


Upwelling

by momoandzuzu18 (allofthatblood)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Friends to Lovers, but like more so than canon, contains a couple of OCs but none present for more than one chapter, feminist!katara
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:48:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 64,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28660467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allofthatblood/pseuds/momoandzuzu18
Summary: Canon divergent AU in which Katara remains unsure about her feelings for Aang for years following the end of the war. As a master waterbender and healer, her responsibilities and aspirations come first to her when considering her commitment to her best friend. As they grow, her perceptions of relationships, love, and family rooted in her culture and upbringing begin to transform.
Relationships: Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Comments: 78
Kudos: 130





	1. Chapter 1

Looking into the ornate, golden mirror that hung on the wall of her guest room in the Fire Nation Palace, Katara surveyed her reflection. She had been spending the past couple of hours preparing for the celebration being held that night by the Fire Lord in honor of the newly named Republic City; the royal hairdresser, beautician, and seamstress had been sent for her with beautiful garments that were hand fitted to her and a large array of make ups and beauty tools. They had left her to get dressed on her own thirty minutes ago, and she had. Her flowing floor-length deep blue gown’s material was thin enough to highlight her flat, toned stomach, her smooth, wide hips, and her perfectly round breasts. The dress was held up by thin straps, and its neckline dipped down low enough to reveal some of her cleavage. It was like nothing she would have ever encountered back home, but she was growing to enjoy Fire Nation fashion and not just because the oppressive heat left her with little choice. It suited her.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a familiar knock at her open door. Without looking, she knew who it was, and smiled immediately.

“Hi,” she said, turning to face him.

Aang’s cheeks grew redder by the second as he surveyed the final result of the palace staff’s work on her. She felt blood rushing to her own face as his eyes roved over her body, his lips parted slightly in amazement. At last, he seemed to realize himself, and his silver eyes snapped up to her own. Grinning sheepishly, he said, genuinely, “Sorry. That dress looks beautiful on you.”

“You don’t look too bad yourself,” she teased, taking a seat on her vanity stool to slide on the pair of fancy slippers left for her by the seamstress. When she stood back up, he was still looking at her, his cheeks still flushed. However, he quickly recovered and smiled at her reassuringly, holding his arm out for her.

“Ready?” He asked.

“Ready,” she confirmed, stepping forward to slip her arm into his. She pulled the door closed behind her as they left, and then they began to make their way through the long halls of the palace, towards the formal dining room where the banquet was being held. 

“I was with Sokka while you were getting ready—Suki spent forever getting her hair and makeup done too. He thinks tonight is his big night,” Aang informed her with a grin. 

She glanced over at him, an eyebrow arched in confusion, before she realized that, of course, her brother would act like the night was about him because, though the celebration was more in honor of the idea rather than the new name itself, he had first come up with “Republic City” as a moniker for the new society formed out of the old colonies. “He’s going to be disappointed when no one wants to hear from him,” she joked. 

“No one wants to hear from any of us,” Aang pointed out, “They’re all here for the influence and the food. At least Sokka didn’t take their ruler’s bending away and throw him in prison.”

Katara sighed, reminded of the constant undercurrent of rancor that invaded the Fire Nation nobility, a bitterness that was beginning to spread through the other nations as well. Though the war had ended four years ago, the level of acrimony held by a world that had been ravaged by conflict for as long as any of its inhabitants had been alive was far-reaching. There were constant menacing messages, coming from more sources than they could ever track down or identify, threatening an attempt on either Zuko’s or Aang’s life. She knew that there were many people out there who hated them for the ways that they had changed the world, a hostility that reached even into Republic City and the undercurrents of tension between benders and nonbenders that permeated the city. Still, Republic City’s political squabbles meant nothing to the old, rich fire nation upper class, and Zuko was the Fire Lord with Ozai still locked away, so the Fire Nation nobility ingratiated themselves with Zuko at these events despite their personal opinions of him. She tried not to think about it, most of the time.

Pressing past her negative thoughts, she smiled at him as they rounded a corner, responding, “Are you sure he was excited about the celebration? Or was he just thinking about the food?”

“That may have been it,” Aang agreed, laughing along with her. Suddenly, he stopped, releasing her arm as he turned around suddenly.

“Aang?” Katara gasped.

“We’re being followed,” he said, his voice low and suspicious. Slowly, he crept back towards the corner they had just come from. Just as he was about to reach the end of the hallway, Toph jumped out and yelled in his face, causing him to stumble backwards in surprise. 

“Toph!” Katara scolded, walking over to her two friends, one clutching his chest and glaring at the other, who was leaning against the wall for support, overtaken with laughter. “You scared us! You could’ve been— you could’ve been an assassin! Or an Ozai loyalist, or—”

“Calm  _ down _ , Sugar Queen,” Toph said, her laughter fading as she was lectured, “Everyone’s  _ fine _ . Anyway, I’m surprised you could feel me coming through those thick boots,” she added with disdain. 

Aang tried to hide the fear lingering in his expression, but Toph was able to feel his heart racing and punched him firmly in the shoulder before he could step out of the way, causing him to cringe. Katara glowered at her.

“Okay,” Aang said, taking Katara’s arm once again, “Let’s just all head down together then, shall we?”

“Are you sure? I didn’t want to interrupt anything,” Toph teased, walking by his other side as they continued down the hall once more.

Katara leaned around Aang’s tall form to glare at Toph. “What are you talking about?

“You guys are worse and worse every time we get together,” she complained, oblivious to the way Aang tensed slightly at her comment, “And I  _ really _ don’t want to accidentally find you kissing.”

“Toph,  _ what _ are you talking about? Who’s kissing anyone?” Katara asked impatiently.

“You’re practically holding hands,” she accused, her face still and stony as they kept walking.

“Are you jealous?” she replied, quirking an eyebrow that Toph would not be able to see. “Aang has two arms, Toph. You could have just asked—“

“Don’t touch me,” Toph warned Aang, flushing as he walked in place between then, not about to do anything of the sort. “I’m  _ not _ interested in holding hands with Twinkletoes,” she insisted. Aang had to agree; he had made the mistake of idly watching her pick her toes earlier that day and had no interest in touching her hands or even her arms, really.

“No one’s holding hands or kissing anyone,” Aang insisted before Katara could escalate the argument, as he could feel her blood boiling to his left. “We were talking about Sokka’s big night.”

“Sokka?” Toph replied in confusion, “What exactly did Sokka do?”

Before Aang could respond, an explanation already on his tongue, she continued, “Did Sokka’s family create the foundation of Republic City’s industry? Did Sokka—”

“Ugh,” Katara groaned, sick of hearing the two indirectly argue about their opposing beliefs, “Please, let’s not get into this again.”

Toph paused for a minute, and the three were silent as they proceeded down the hall, the sound of Aang’s boots and Katara’s heels echoing down the stone hallway, sans Toph’s silent bare feet. Finally, she instead responded, “It’s because of the food, isn’t it?”

Katara smiled, much more at Toph’s willingness to let something go for the sake of a peaceful evening than at the stale jab at Sokka’s appetite, while Aang laughed politely. “That’s what Katara suggested just before we thought someone was about to attack us.”

“Oh,  _ come on _ , Twinkletoes,” she complained, leaning over to punch him without missing a step. “Don’t be a pussy.”

He cringed, both at the pain ricocheting down his arm and her particular wording of her insult. Before he could say anything to try to diffuse the situation, Katara stopped; they weren’t far from the main dining room now where everyone was gathering for the feast, and Aang stopped with her, just in case his presence was necessary to prevent the eruption of an all out war between the two. Toph huffed dramatically, spinning on her heel to face them, her head angled vaguely towards the ground. “Why are we stopping?”

“I  _ hate _ when you use that word,” Katara insisted, pulling her arm from Aang’s to cross it with her other over her chest. Out of the corner of her vision, she noticed Aang’s face flush as he surveyed her and blushed slightly herself. Toph patently ignored their subtle flirtation.

“Don’t make me say it to you too,” she threatened, crossing her arms as well.

Katara was about to reach for her waterskin when Sokka rounded the corner.

“I thought I heard you—“ he began, stopping as he surveyed the situation. “Am I interrupting something?” 

“Something probably best interrupted anyway,” Aang reassured him, reaching hesitantly for Katara’s arm once again. When she didn’t react to his touch, he linked their arms. Sokka did the same with Toph, tugging her behind as he led them towards the dining room.

“Well, come on, Suki’s inside already,” he said excitedly. 

Katara glanced at their arms, locked into one another, and turned to Aang with a raised eyebrow. He shook his head at her, and thankfully, she dropped it as they followed the pair into the main room. Inside, the large, round tables around the room were all covered with maroon cloth, candles lit in the center of each one. Dignified looking nobility were scattered across the room, some standing in conversation, some sitting together in groups, most with a glass of red wine in their hands. 

“I think I need one of those,” Katara muttered morosely, pulling her arm from his one final time to hunt down one of the servants roaming the room with trays of drinks. Aang watched her retreating form as he followed Sokka and Toph, weaving between tables to avoid the crowd in the center of the room as they made their way to the back of the massive room, where the head table sat, set for Fire Lord Zuko and his advisors and highest ranking officials. Suki was seated at the table closest, next to someone Aang didn’t recognize.

“Look who I found!” Sokka called out as they approached the table, interrupting Suki’s conversation. She looked up and surveyed Aang and Toph, her eyebrows furrowing.

“Where’s Katara?” she asked in confusion.

“I’ve already driven her to drink,” Toph said with a mischievous smile, pulling out the chair one seat from Suki’s free side, leaving room for Sokka between them. As Sokka took his seat, Aang slid into the chair next to Toph, leaving an empty space between himself and the mystery man on his left. 

Accepting Toph’s explanation without pause, Suki turned to introduce the man on her right. “This is Yuzan, the head of the palace guards. We got to know each other when the girls and I were here,” she explained. 

“Really?” Sokka asked, leaning in, interested. “But you’re so young.”

Suki glared at him, but Yuzan just laughed politely. “I am, but Lord Zuko trusts me. We’ve managed to keep him alive so far,” he joked, though his humor fell flat on the group of friends who had come much too close for comfort to countless assassination attempts before (including those ordered by Zuko himself prior to the war’s end). 

Despite her friends’ lack of reactions, Suki smiled. “Well, you obviously have the guards in shape enough that myself and the Kyoshi Warriors were able to leave it to you, so I commend you for that,” she said, then, turning to her friends, added, “I was just telling Yuzan about how we’ve been training officers in Republic City in chi blocking, and he told me that they’ve added a force of nonbender guards as well. Isn’t that great? I offered to train them in chi blocking as well!”

“It’s nice to see Zuko getting interested in Republic City’s political issues,” Katara said, having come up from behind Aang while Suki was talking. She slid neatly into the seat between Aang and their guest. 

“Actually, we’ve been having issues with conflict between benders and nonbenders here as well,” Yuzan explained, “It’s been building ever since the end of the war and really surged after Fire Lord Zuko’s wedding—it was a big deal for nonbenders across the Fire Nation to have a nonbender as the Fire Lady. That’s part of why we’ve established a nonbender guard unit; there’s a lot of push for more jobs for nonbenders.”

“Has that been working?” Katara asked interestedly, setting her half empty glass of wine on the table. Judging by her heart rate and flushed cheeks, Aang assumed it was her second glass already, somehow.

“Sort of,” he answered, “It’s definitely helped change perceptions about nonbenders. They’ve done some good work and people are starting to see them as more capable.”

“I’ve noticed that in Republic City too,” she responded, leaning in excitedly. “My name is Katara, by the way.”

Before Aang could open his mouth to introduce the rest of them, Yuzan mirrored Katara’s movements, leaning into her as well, his eyelids dropping slightly, flirtatiously. “I know who you are, Master Katara. You’re like a hero among the guards,” he told her, and when she looked confused, he explained further, “For your victory against Azula.”

Katara giggled, her cheeks turning redder, and Aang realized with a twinge of disgust that her flushed cheeks and fast heart rate had  _ not _ been from the wine she’d been drinking but rather her attraction to the man sitting next to her. When Katara’s voice lowered several octaves as she began to reply, Aang immediately turned his attention to Toph, who was sitting still, her head angled vaguely down towards the table. Apparently sensing his discomfort, she blew a gust of wind up to push her hair out of her eyes, a sign of her exasperation. “Welcome to my life. Fun, right?” she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Aang turned to look at Sokka and Suki and saw that their postures were almost identical to that of Katara’s and the man she had just met and sunk slightly down into his seat in misery. “I don’t know what you mean,” he said, perfectly aware that she’d be able to tell he was lying. In return, she swung her arm around to punch him in the shoulder again, where he was still sensitive from earlier. Sighing, he stood up. “I think I’m going to go look for Zuko and go say hello to some of his advisors,” he said, stepping away to push in his chair. When he looked up, all of his friends except for Toph were too engrossed in their conversations to notice what he had said. For her part, Toph blew a dismissive raspberry at him without lifting her head. Aang felt somewhat comforted by her own sort of commiseration. 

The night passed by painfully slowly; Aang stood around with his hands tucked politely into his pockets, nodding as similar looking men, all members of the fire nation nobility with greedy little golden eyes, addressed him somewhat condescendingly and rambled more than he cared to muster the patience for about their local affairs. Eventually, he was able to find Zuko speaking with one such man. Aang slipped seamlessly in and feigned attention to their conversation. It seemed to go on and on before the man finally let Zuko end their discussion. Once he was out of earshot, Zuko sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he said, finally looking up at Aang, “I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I may just have the kitchen send out the appetizers early soon.”

“Ugh,” Aang groaned in response, “Please don’t make me go back to that table.”

Zuko’s eyes narrowed, taking in his friend’s unusually sad expression. “What’s going on?”

“The head of guards is all over Katara,” he said sadly, looking down at the floor as his shoulders slumped slightly.

“Oh, Yuzan? He’s a good guy; he does a great job with—“ Zuko started, and then immediately stopped when he saw Aang glaring at him. “Nothing’s going to happen between them. You all live too far away.”

Aang closed his eyes in frustration. As much as he knew that, it didn’t mean that it was any more tolerable to watch them right now. However, he hadn’t expected any sympathy from Zuko, who, always a busy, rather unempathetic man, was currently overloaded with an ongoing event and a very pregnant wife. “Let’s just get this night over with,” he said, sighing.

“That’s the spirit,” Zuko said, grabbing a glass of red wine from a passing waiter as he threw his other arm around Aang’s shoulder, now the same height as his own. As they began walking, he threw the entire glass of wine back at once, causing Aang to laugh at him, and then laugh even harder when he choked slightly on the burn of an entire glass of wine going down his throat. “Okay,” he said once he had recovered, “That’s better. Are you sure you don’t—“

“No,” he insisted, shaking his head slightly as they neared the head of the ballroom. “Especially not a good idea right now,” he added, grinning at Zuko’s vastly different attitude regarding drinking.

“I disagree,” he said, raising his empty glass to Aang before setting it down on another waiter’s tray, “But have it your way.”

Back at the table, even Sokka was beginning to side eye Katara for flirting with the fire bender she had just met. Toph had her arms crossed, an empty wine glass sat on the table in front of her. With a feeling close to being punched in the gut, he sat back down in his seat, sighing to let Toph know that his conversation with Zuko had not helped. Katara was leaning in close, speaking quietly with Yuzan, her hair forming a curtain around her shoulders to shield her from her nosey brother. Aang felt the knot in his stomach tighten when she pulled nervously at her hair with a blush on her cheeks, and he looked down, closing his eyes as he tried to will the image out of his head. 

The waiters came around with the appetizers, as Zuko had said, shortly after, and the meal went by painfully slowly, an awkward sort of tension filling the air between the rest of them as Katara spoke obliviously to the guard, picking at each dish as it was brought out, her attention primarily on her new acquaintance. As each course was brought out, Aang became more and more miserable, sinking into his seat in his wallowing. When everyone was finishing up the main course, Katara got up to use the restroom, and Yuzan stood up to greet her with a kiss on the cheek upon her return. He had seen many men flirt with Katara; he knew that she was incredibly attractive, of course, and single and nothing stopped her from having fun with men her age. However, he’d never seen her let anyone kiss her like that, accepting the gesture with a pleased flush. That was the breaking point for Aang, and he weighed his options silently, poking at the royal chefs’ best attempts at a vegetarian dish. He had no interest in eating, and he had no interest in watching Katara flirt with someone else with only a sulking Toph for company. As the waiters came around to collect their plates, Yuzan and Katara stood and headed for another table, and he watched him introduce her to a group of guards, who all clearly flattered her just as much as he had based on her flushed reaction. Eventually, he determined that his best option would probably be to tell the others he was sick and leave the event early; after all, he had already spoken to almost everyone there before the meal had started. 

Clearing his throat to get everyone’s attention, he smiled thankfully at Suki and Sokka as they looked at him. “I’m not feeling well,” he said, “I think I’m just going to turn in early.”

“Are you okay?” Suki asked, sounding mildly concerned.

“Yeah,” he responded right away, pushing his chair out to stand, “I think I’m just tired.”

“Feel better,” Sokka told him before turning back to Suki.

“Twinkletoes,” Toph said in a commanding voice.

“What?” he asked, more than ready to leave.

“Come here,” she insisted without lifting her head. When Aang leaned down, she reached over and punched him in the shoulder for a third time.

“Glad I didn’t forget that,” he responded sarcastically, his response bitter enough that he registered mild surprise in Toph’s usually expressionless face. “Sorry,” he added, “I’m just upset about—“

“I know,” she said, sounding mildly annoyed. “Just go. It’ll be over tomorrow, at least,” she reassured him somewhat uncharacteristically, shooting him a small smile. He thanked her and left quickly, before Katara could return to the table with her new companion.

Out in the empty hallways of the palace, Aang walked morosely back to his room, the only place he could be certain of his privacy. He knew that he had no business getting upset with her for enjoying the attention of an attractive man and found that he  _ wasn’t _ upset with her; he was just sad. It was easy to forget how much it hurt, sometimes, when she spent all of her time with him, focused all of her attention on him and their shared goals, but it only hit that much harder when he received such explicit, blatant reminders that she did not feel the same way he did, regardless of their flirting, regardless of the fact that she did love him, in a different sort of way. His heart throbbed painfully in his chest as he thought of the way she’d smiled at him when he’d shown up in her doorway earlier, the way she’d blushed when he’d told her how gorgeous she looked in her dress, the way she’d held his arm as they’d walked to dinner. He knew that she didn’t owe him anything, but part of him wanted her to stop playing with him if she really did just see him like the little brother she had claimed so many years ago; another part of him wanted any scrap of her that he could get.

As he reached his guest room in the palace and was enveloped in its darkness, he found himself wishing he had somewhere else to go, somewhere that wasn’t a stagnant tomb of his loneliness. Making his way over to the window, he opened its glass doors, letting the moonlight into the room. As he stared out at the courtyard below, Momo suddenly came flying through the window. He chittered noisily as he landed on Aang’s dresser, where a wooden bowl filled with lychee nuts sat, a snack set out just for the lemur. 

Aang moved over to him, taking in his disheveled appearance, from his ruffled fur to a small scratch on his nose. Gently, he reached out to pet Momo’s head, giving him time when he recoiled in surprise at the touch. Slowly, he began to stroke behind his large ears until he relaxed, purring as he stuffed his face with lychee nuts. 

“It looks like you had just as rough of a night as I did, buddy,” he sighed, leaning against the dresser as he scratched Momo’s head. Grabbing a few more lychee nuts, the lemur scrambled up his arm and over his shoulder, perching along his neck with a satisfied purr as he finished his snack. Together, they basked in the brisk breeze that blew through the open windows, red velvet curtains fluttering in the wind. He closed his eyes against the night air, taking in a deep breath. Though he knew he was being dramatic—he was grateful for all that he had and the struggles that he, as the Avatar, would never know—he couldn’t help but feel that everything he wanted was so painfully out of reach. Nuzzling into Aang’s head against the cool wind, he chittered sympathetically, two beings who were the last of their kind, lonely to their cores despite the empty comfort of being surrounded by their native element. 

As the whistling of the wind died down, Aang stared out the open window at the courtyard below, watching a few people milling about, the first to leave beginning to trickle out of the palace. The scene below began to grow darker, fading to dusk as Momo curled against his neck and fell asleep, purring softly in his sleep now and then. Slowly, the crowd out in the palace courtyard grew as more people took their leave, indicating that the evening was finally coming to a close. It took a while for Aang to realize he was watching for her below, listening for her (solitary) return to her room next door to his. When it occurred to him what he had absently been doing, he shook his head, upset with himself for so absently invading her privacy. His eyebrows wrinkled as he tried to clear his head. Momo was disturbed by his movements and growled as he flew over to the bed, curling up at its foot in a neat, tired circle.

“Maybe you have the right idea, buddy,” Aang said with a sigh, sitting next to him to remove his boots. Once he was undressed, he climbed under the covers, Momo cuddled up to his legs, and buried his head face down into the pillows. At least there he could not feel each person walking down the hallway outside and could not absently watch for her through the stone floors. He tried to tune out the occasional sound of footsteps outside his door, tried desperately not to think so deeply about her when she was not his and had made that clear for years. He just had managed to even his breathing and clear his mind and had even begun to fall asleep when a light rap at his bedroom door caused his muscles to freeze.

“Aang?” Katara called softly, “Are you in there?”

Opening his eyes, he surveyed the dark room and realized he must have been out for a while, long enough for the sun to finish setting and twilight to roll in. All at once, he remembered that he had promised her that they could fly down to the water and bend for a while; she had (correctly) predicted that it would be a stressful night and that they would both need a way to relax afterward. He’d forgotten in his moping about their agreement, as she had hardly spoken to him all night. Immediately, it occurred to him that it was hours after dinner then. Closing his eyes against the wave of jealous images that threatened to rock him, he sighed deeply, quietly.

Again, her knuckles banged against the door lightly as she tried once more, “Aang?”

Leaning over the bedside, he pressed a hand to the stone floor as Momo squawked in protest at the shifting of the mattress. He could feel her outside, leaning against the door to listen for a sign of him within. His heart ached to ignore her, but he didn’t think it was the best idea to spend so much time alone with her right now. He was upset, but it wasn’t her problem, and he didn’t want to take it out on her unfairly or even burden her with it. Keeping his hand on the floor until she began to finally walk away, images of her gorgeous form outside his door in her beautiful blue gown flooded his mind unbidden in colorful detail he was unable to receive from her vibrations. With a sigh, he slumped back against the bed. The guilt he had been feeling before came rushing back to his once clear mind, his heart seizing in his chest at the memory of her flushed face leaning in with such interest to someone else. Much to Momo’s displeasure, Aang tossed and turned for quite a while longer before he was able to fall asleep that night.


	2. Chapter 2

It was later than Katara had realized when she finished talking to Yuzan; she had gotten lost in their conversation about his job and had spent longer than she’d intended away from their friends. It was incredible to her that in the Fire Nation Palace City, of all places, they were able to integrate the benders and nonbenders so well and efficiently, and she wanted to know how. If there was one thing that still kept her up at night, it was the conflict and division surrounding bending and lineage that tore through Republic City and the families who lived there, her own being one of them. It was impossible not to think of her brother, Suki, and her father each time the worth of nonbenders was dismissed; they were anything but vulnerable. She was excited to share what she had learned with Suki, who was in charge of the nonbending police force back in Republic City, but was surprised to realize that it had grown late into the night while they spoke. He had offered to walk her back to her room, but she’d declined right away, not even taking the time to parse out whether his offer was made with gentlemanly intentions or not. She wasn’t planning on going to her room—it was too late to talk about work with Suki, but she had promised Aang that they would go somewhere for some bending practice at the end of the night. Back in the massive ballroom, where palace staff were beginning to clean the tables off, she scanned the mostly empty room, searching for Aang. Somehow, she was so distracted that she missed her own brother walking up to her on his way out, Suki on his arm. He placed his free hand on her shoulder to get her attention as he passed, and she spun to face him in surprise.

“He’s not here,” Sokka said, giving her a concerned look. “He left before dessert—he wasn’t feeling well.”

“Oh,” she said, surprised that she hadn’t noticed. He hadn’t been there for dessert, and she hadn’t seen him since.

“He said he’d be in his room,” he told her, patting her shoulder gently. She raised an eyebrow at his kindness but said nothing as he headed off with Suki. While they turned to make their way outside, Katara headed for their guest rooms, immediately worried about Aang, who hardly ever felt ill enough to skip out on anything. He seemed completely fine earlier and had even de-escalated her argument with Toph as per usual. 

Their guest wing was empty and silent. Sokka and Suki’s room was still vacant, as was Toph’s. She heard nothing coming from Aang’s room either. Stepping up to his door, she knocked at it gently, leaning in to call out to him, but received no answer even after a couple of attempts. It sounded silent inside, so after a couple of moments, she gave up, assuming he had either fallen asleep or was not actually in his room as he’d told Sokka. 

Instead, not yet ready to turn in for the night, she decided to check on Zuko and Mai. They would be leaving the next morning, and she wasn’t sure when they’d be back again. Though she doubted she would be able to pin Zuko down for a casual conversation, his wife would hopefully be resting and easier to find and catch up with. Mai was quite pregnant, and there would likely be a new Fire Nation prince or princess the next time they visited. They weren’t the closest of friends by any means, but they shared a mutual respect for one another and Katara could not resist; she loved babies.

She eventually found Mai in her and Zuko’s massive master suite; the guards lining the hallway leading up to it stood like angry cats when they heard her coming, but instantly relaxed at the sight of her and bowed respectfully. At the door, one of the guards asked her to wait a moment while he got permission from the Fire Lady for her to enter. He quickly came back and held the door open for her.

As she entered, she found Mai wrapped in a long, silken maroon robe, sitting back in a cushy rocking chair with her massively swollen feet up on a matching stool. Behind her, a masseuse dressed in a royal uniform was working on her shoulders. Katara bowed deeply and formally to her as she entered, and then stood with a smile. Mai wasn’t amused and eyed her suspiciously.

“Hi,” Katara said brightly, feeling somewhat awkward now that she was here. It was late at night, and she had wandered into Mai’s private bedroom uninvited. “How are you feeling?”

“Not great,” she said flatly, leaning back into the hands of her masseuse. “Why are you here?”

When Katara cringed automatically in response to the harsh question, she noticed Mai’s face soften. Pressing forward, she said, “I thought we could catch up; we’re leaving already in the morning and probably won’t be back until after the baby’s born.”

“Couldn’t get anywhere near Zuko?” Mai asked. Her voice was her usual flat tone, but Katara saw a glint of amusement in her golden eyes.

“I didn’t schedule my appointment months in advance so no,” she joked, stepping forward into the room. “I wanted to check on you too. I love babies,” Katara admitted, watching as Mai’s face contorted, her nose wrinkling at the idea. Grinning sympathetically, she offered, “How about I work on your feet while we talk?”

Mai groaned; familiar as she was with pregnancies and birth, she knew it was probably mostly just from her pain. “Please. I feel like I’m dying after tonight.”

Glad to have something useful to do, Katara worked with the servants to fill a tub of water and brought it back to Mai, setting it on the floor. She turned to the pregnant Fire Lady and smiled, gesturing for her to lift her feet. Though Mai looked somewhat uncomfortable with the physical contact, she allowed Katara to sit and take her feet into her lap. Once she bent the water around her feet and began to work, Mai relaxed instantly, sighing in relief. 

“You were standing for a long time tonight,” Katara said, working the glowing water against Mai’s feet, “How far along are you? Eight months?”

“Yes, nurse,” Mai confirmed sarcastically, leaning her head back and closing her eyes as her masseuse moved to work on her neck. “Unfortunately, no one cares about the Fire Lady’s swollen feet.”

Katara remembered what Yuzan had said about nonbender and bender conflicts and the role that the Fire Lady, as a nonbending member of the royal family, played. Eying Mai’s relaxed face, she decided to avoid the topic for the moment. Instead, she said, “Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?”

Mai sighed deeply. She was silent for a moment, her hands clasped in her lap beneath her large stomach. Just as Katara began to think she might not answer, she said, “I don’t really care. Zuko wants a boy.”

Katara froze slightly, but recovered before Mai could notice her hesitation. When she was young back in the Southern Water Tribe, she’d spent a lot of time with many pregnant women and new mothers and had delivered a number of babies. She often helped women who were overwhelmed while their husbands and sometimes oldest sons were off fighting in the war. In all of her time working with new mothers, she had never heard anyone say that they didn’t care—not even about the smallest details. Weighing her options in her hesitation, Katara tried, gently, “You’re not excited for the baby?”

She saw the danger in her question in the faces of the servants present as they cringed and eyed Mai nervously, but she kept working unflinchingly. Finally, Mai opened her eyes, and Katara saw a sort of desperation there. Though it was a familiar expression, somewhat common on the face of new mothers, it looked odd and out of place on Mai’s usually stoic face. Finally, she said, “I didn’t really want to have children—not yet, for sure, at least.”

Mai was still young; she was only 21 while Zuko was 22, and Katara could not imagine herself being pregnant next year. She loved babies and thought pregnancy and childbirth were beautiful and incredible, but she also loved healing and fighting and working to help people with her time. She wasn’t ready in any way to stop her life and devote herself to raising a child. Realizing Mai’s dilemma, she looked up at her with a frown, a small line between her eyebrows. “For what it’s worth, I think you and Zuko will make great parents, and I’m sure you’ll have plenty of hired help if you feel overwhelmed.”

Mai didn’t look reassured. “Zuko’s never around,” she countered evenly, “I’m not sure I agree.”

She was right; when Katara thought about it, it really wasn’t the palace staff that should’ve been rubbing her shoulders, Katara working on her feet. Zuko should have been there to comfort his wife while she was pregnant, but he was wrapped up in late night discussions following the banquet and, based on Aang’s schedule when he attended meetings with Zuko, likely wouldn’t return until after she’d fallen asleep. “That must be difficult,” Katara said, moving the water up her legs to work on her swollen ankles. “He’s too busy to be here for you, but you  _ have _ to have his children and produce heirs.”

Mai’s eyes widened. Though Katara was sure the thought was much harsher in Mai’s head, it was still more than would be appropriate for her to say about the future prince or princess growing within her. “Basically,” she said noncommittally, though Katara saw her expression for the confirmation that it was. 

Katara understood how she felt; just the thought made her blush as her mind flashed to the airbender waiting, always waiting for her: the avatar, the last of his kind, the most important man in the world, her best friend who needed to have as many children as possible. Before she could say anything, lost in her own thoughts, Mai spoke again.

“I know, it’s horrible,” she said. Katara saw the concern and guilt in her expression and felt uneasy at the raw vulnerability of the usually stoic young woman. 

“No,” she reassured her. “Not at all. I was just thinking about how terrified I am to end up feeling the way you do now,” she admitted, her cheeks reddening further.

“Are you pregnant?” Mai asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No,” Katara responded, laughing as she moved the glowing water up Mai’s calves, “Definitely not. I meant in the future… far in the future, hopefully.” She saw the realization dawn in Mai’s eyes and instantly felt embarrassed; though she hadn’t meant it to be so, she had basically confessed her feelings for Aang to her. Hoping to quickly move on, she added, “I helped a lot of mothers and soon-to-be mothers though this back home; it’s normal to feel nervous and overwhelmed. Something changes when you have the baby.”

Mai looked slightly irritated, as if she had heard this line before. “I don’t have any kind of… maternal instinct, or whatever. It’s just not who I am.”

“Are you sure?” Katara asked with a grin. “I’ve seen you with Tom-Tom.”

Mai’s face softened, a soft flush of embarrassment spreading across her pale cheeks. “He’s not  _ mine _ . I‘ve never fully devoted myself to him, I didn’t have to… I don’t know, raise him.”

“You’ll want to do those things when it’s yours,” Katara promised. She hesitated and then, cracking a smile added, “And if you don’t, you’ll have plenty of help—not just from the palace staff. I could stay for the birth if you want. I’ve delivered babies before and waterbending definitely makes the process easier.”

Though Mai looked uneasy at this offer, her calf muscles tensing within the water Katara had surrounding them, she could tell that she was touched by the offer, in her own way. Something in her eyes softened as she looked at Katara as if trying to figure something out. Finally, she said, “No, that’s okay. I’m sure I’ll be fine. I might send for some healers though,” she joked, “This feels incredible.”

“I’m glad I can help,” Katara said, moving back down to her ankles, relieved that her spontaneous offer had been rejected. Though she was always happy to help a friend—especially one who had saved her family’s lives so long ago—she had many commitments in Republic City and could not imagine being away for so long without months of planning. They had been living there for a couple of years, the five of them, and had all established deep connections to the massive town. Katara herself had been helping to set up a healing and medical clinic to assist with those injured in the conflicts between benders and nonbenders that constantly seemed to fill the streets there. Between the endless struggle to get bending and nonbending staff to work together and the sheer number of people she saw wounded every day there, it was an exhausting job. Though she had help from a number of healers from the Northern Tribe, she was sure she would face chaos upon her return. Thinking about it made the drowsiness from the wine she’d had earlier that night hit her all at once, and she smiled apologetically up at Mai. “ _ I _ feel tired after tonight; I can’t imagine how you feel.”

“Sick of being pregnant,” she responded flatly, leaning back into the hands of her masseuse. “Warmer,” she said, confusing Katara for a moment before she realized she was speaking to the man massaging her shoulders. Of course, a massage in the Fire Nation palace would come from the heated hands of a firebending masseuse. Katara almost wanted to ask if she could go next.

“Well, you only have one more month,” she reassured her, working the glowing water over her ankles and then her feet once more. When Mai was silent, Katara looked up at her and was surprised to find her looking away, her eyes glistening with unspilled tears as her mouth was set in a firm line. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she insisted, quickly reaching up to dab at her waterline, sweeping away her tears before they could fall, “It’s just hormones, I guess.”

Katara looked at her for a long moment. Mai was only a year older than her. She remembered the way she had been when they were younger, tossing her knives like bending, sliding and running around in fights. Though she had been sort of depressing, if Katara slowed down and thought about it enough, she’d had a sort of energy to her as well, a passion for thrill and action that seared through her veins, a will that led her to betray Azula. That one had saved her family, albeit unintentionally, and Katara would never forget that. Finally with a sad smile, Katara asked, “You miss it, don’t you?”

“What?” Mai asked, caught off guard by the somber sympathy in her expression.

“Fighting,” Katara prodded, “Going out and… I don’t know, being involved in some kind of action. Obviously you’ve seriously trained to use those knives, and I’ve seen how you move.”

When she looked up again, Mai appeared deeply sad, looking down into her lap so as not to reveal the extent of her emotions. “Zuko took them,” she admitted.

“ _ What? _ ” Katara hissed, the water falling from her hands in her surprise. Mai glanced up, but Katara had it back in her hands before she could even see. “Why? I’ll fight him; I could win—“

“Not before the guards get you, I don’t think,” Mai interrupted, raising an eyebrow. “I tried to throw my knives at them. The guards, I mean. That’s why he took them.”

Katara was shocked for a moment and then suddenly not at all. An armed pregnant woman was probably not the best idea, particularly when surrounded by guards and servants who followed her husband’s orders above her own. “Oh. Maybe he should hold onto them until the baby’s here,” she replied sheepishly.

“Yeah,” Mai said, her gaze focused back on her lap. “If he gives them back then. If there’s time before I’m pregnant again.”

She let silence settle between them. There was nothing Katara could say to that. When Mai married Zuko, the expectation was set in stone that she would be the mother of the next generation of the royal family. Now, she was expected to start having those children: at least an heir and a spare. Sighing, Katara released the water back into the bin on the floor. “I’m sorry,” she said as Mai lifted her feet to allow her to stand. “This may be a stupid question, but have you talked to Zuko about how you feel?”

“Have you talked to Aang?” Mai replied as she rested her feet back on the stool, glancing casually up at a frozen, flushed Katara. Her eyes were unreadable, and the longer Katara waited, the hotter she felt her face grow.

“I know that you need to have heirs,” Katara pressed forward as if Mai had not spoken, “But that doesn’t mean you have to get pregnant again right away. He’ll understand if you need some time, or if you only want to have two or three children. I’m sure you’ll feel better—both of you, I bet—once you talk to him.” She paused, letting an uncomfortable silence lapse between them as Mai stared at her, expressionless. 

“Sorry,” she added, her cheeks flushing deeper, “I don’t mean to stick my nose in where it doesn’t belong.”

“Thank you for your help,” Mai said, finally looking away from Katara as she stretched her legs out, leaning back into her chair. 

“Of course,” Katara said, relieved to be moving on, “Will we see you at breakfast in the morning?”

“I can’t look at food before noon without puking,” she replied.

“Ugh,” Katara responded sympathetically, “I’m so sorry.”

With a small smile and a kindness in her eyes that Katara had not seen before, Mai said, “Goodnight, Katara.”

“Goodnight,” she replied, bowing to her friend, “Good luck. We better be some of the first to hear when the baby is born.”

“Of course,” Mai replied. Sensing her impatience, Katara smiled at her before turning to exit. A guard escorted her out and back into the hallway.

“Do you need assistance getting back to your room, Master Katara?” he asked, bowing to her.

“No thank you,” she replied with a kind smile, still a tad pleased every time the guards and servants in the palace addressed her that way. It was easy for her to understand why it was so difficult for Mai to lose that level of respect and autonomy. As much as Katara herself wanted children, she couldn’t bear to imagine living without her independence in that way. She very much enjoyed being her own hero when necessary and had no intentions of ever surrendering that duty to a paid guard. Bending and fighting were in her blood; while she loved babies and children, she wasn’t sure she would ever be ready to give herself up completely in the way that was being asked of Mai. 

Shaking her head, she rounded the corner towards their guest rooms. Just before she went into her own, she stopped in front of Aang’s room and pressed her ear to the door to listen. Inside, it was silent once again, and she still wasn’t sure if he was asleep or out elsewhere. Sighing, she kept moving and made her way into her own bedroom to get ready to go to sleep. While changing out of her gown and bathing, she worried idly about Aang again. He was usually the lightest sleeper of them all, and she found it unlikely that he had gone so quickly from perfectly fine before dinner to ill enough to sleep through her knocking on his door that night. Just before she climbed into bed, she almost threw a robe on to go inside and check on him, but she felt stuck on the idea that he might have left early to avoid their after dinner plans. As she tossed and turned, trying to fall asleep through the thick, dry heat that always permeated the Fire Nation, she considered that he might have gotten sick of waiting for her after the meal had finished but quickly rejected this; he’d never been impatient with her like that before, and Sokka had said he left early. The situation seemed off to her, and now that she was alone she couldn’t help but think about whether or not Aang was sick or upset with her. Her worries kept her up late into the night.

* * *

It turned out her concern was for nothing. Though she accidentally slept in, exhausted from her tossing and turning the night before, when she saw Aang the next morning, he was his usual cheery self and didn’t seem ill at all. Zuko had early morning meetings that kept him from joining them, but her friends were enjoying the breakfast prepared for them by the palace kitchen before leaving for Republic City once more. A wave of relief rushed over her when she saw him sharing a piece of fruit with Momo, laughing aloud as the lemur snatched it and ran to the other end of the table with his prize. When he saw her enter the dining room, his face lit up the same way it always did, and he greeted her with his usual enthusiasm. She sat down by his side at the massive dark dining table, and he immediately began filling her in on the conversation they had been having before she arrived. Hardly anything he said made it through to her as she studied him, searching for any signs of illness.

“Hey, by the way, where’d you go last night?” she asked when he finished, her eyebrows furrowing. She noticed that Toph’s head perked up in interest in the periphery but was too focused on Aang to think about it further; his face was frozen in the wake of her question. “I thought we were gonna go look for somewhere to waterbend last night, but I couldn’t find you—Sokka said you left early.”

“I wasn’t feeling well,” he lied as Toph dropped her head, “Sorry, I should have told you when I left.”

“That’s okay,” she said, her eyebrows furrowing in concern, “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he reassured her, guilt flaring in his eyes, “I think I was just exhausted.” 

“Oh… okay,” she replied, looking unconvinced, “I knocked on your door last night but I didn’t hear anything.”

“I must’ve been asleep,” he said. Momo swooped around his neck with a small growl as if to call out his lie. Aang smiled nervously at her.

“You’re usually such a light sleeper,” she remarked casually, pretending to inspect the tray of pastries in the center of the table.

“It was a long night,” he said, scratching Momo behind his ears to soothe him, “I was exhausted. Not all of us had such young, strapping company—even Zuko was fed up with all of those old rich men last night,” he joked. She looked at him, trying to determine how much acidity might have been buried deep beneath his casual comment. When he glanced back over at her and found her staring, he flushed. “I feel a lot better this morning,” he said quickly, “It’s just weird to be here when Zuko’s in such a bad mood. I’m glad we’re leaving today.”

She snorted at his sympathy for the Fire Lord, finally deciding on a pastry and grabbing it from the platter. “Poor Zuko,” she said, “It must be so hard to carry a human baby in you for nine months.”

His worry immediately shifted into amusement. Momo slunk forward onto the table and looked at her curiously, so she reached forward to pet him with her free hand as she chewed on a bite of pastry. Before Aang could respond to her snarky comment, Sokka was roping them back into some inane conversation about their journey home that she mostly tuned out, watching contemplatively as Momo melted beneath her scratches. A few moments later, when she glanced over at Aang, he was smirking at his lemur as if they shared some secret. Shaking her head, she returned her attention to her friends’ conversation, focused on getting back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just want to clarify--I don't intend to have any actual romantic interaction occur between any OC(s) and either Aang or Katara, and none of the OCs I introduce will really end up being permanent characters. 
> 
> Also, I had a couple of questions about updating so: I want to try to update weekly. I mostly have stuff towards the end of the story (like, a lot of smut primarily) written so this will probably depend on my schedule as the semester starts as I'm in grad school but ideally I want to at least update regularly for sure


	3. Chapter 3

Things were hectic as soon as they hit the ground in Republic City. There had been a series of consecutive riots at a few shops in the heart of the city that were owned by nonbenders, and the benders leading the attacks had caused quite a bit of damage as they moved from target to target. As soon as she had seen the anger and sadness on Aang’s face when they landed, she had wanted to stop and ask him how he felt. However, there wasn’t time before they were whisked away, their help more than needed in dealing with the crisis at hand. Suki needed to go work with the Republic City police forces to question those captured and investigate the incident, while Aang and Sokka were swept into emergency meetings with the council on how to deal with the situation. Katara, on the other hand, had to face the actual victims of the attacks. Many nonbending citizens were too frightened to receive help from healers and had refused treatment following the commotion. That saddened her greatly, and it weighed on her as she treated those who had come in, helping to direct resources and work on treatment plans.

The chaos of the ordeal went on for over a week; it was a complicated situation as far as political planning went, and new victims who had initially resisted treatment kept coming in every day as their injuries progressed beyond what they were able to manage on their own. It was another sign of the massive rift that had formed between the bending and nonbending communities in the city, with mistrust brewing on both sides, and it exhausted Katara more than the work itself.

It felt like forever before things slowed down enough to breathe again. It took several weeks before she heard any discussions between nurses at the clinic that didn’t revolve around the discord and tension that threatened to smother the city. She was on her way to check on a patient one Monday when she overheard one of the nonbending nurses, picking the word “vegetarian” out of their conversation on her way by, her mind immediately flashing to the only vegetarian she knew. Apparently, they had been discussing a brand new vegetarian-only restaurant that had opened up in one of the shops whose original owners were unable to afford to rebuild, and one of the nurses was raving about the dishes she had tried on her visit the past weekend while complaining about the prices on the menu. Though her interest was piqued, the clinic was as busy as ever, and she had to get to her patient, so she moved on.

The longer she worked that afternoon, the more she considered the new restaurant her nurses had been discussing. It may have had something to do with the way she got hungry as the day went on, but she felt like it had been far too long since she had been out with her brother and friends to have fun and catch up. The four of them had been running around constantly since they had gotten home and had not eaten a meal together in quite some time. By the end of the day, she was excited to go home and tell everyone about it—hopefully, they would all be able to find time to go soon. 

Unfortunately, her idea was not well received by her brother, who stared at her blankly when she finished presenting her idea.

“You did say  _ vegetarian _ , right?” he asked, folding his arms. Katara looked from his irritated expression to Aang’s face, lit up with joy as his eyes twinkled at her, and back.

“Yes,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him, “Just for one meal, Sokka.”

“No way,” he insisted, “What do they even have on the menu? Cabbage?”

“No, that’s another restaurant,” Aang interjected, a joking tone to his voice. He was, of course, referring to the cabbage merchant’s restaurant in Republic City. Neither Katara nor Sokka were amused, and both all but ignored him as they glared at each other. Suki shot him a sympathetic smile.

“I heard it was really good,” she tried again, “I thought it would be nice if we all went and tried it.”

“Just bring Aang,” Sokka said with an indifferent shrug, turning to leave for his bedroom. Suki glared at him, but then turned to Katara. 

“I don’t know if I'll be able to leave work early enough to go out to dinner any time soon anyway,” Suki said with an apologetic smile before heading off after Sokka.

“Fine,” Katara sighed, turning to Aang with a small smile. “I guess it’s just you and me, then.”

“ _ I’m _ excited to go,” he offered with a grin, “if that makes you feel any better.”

“A little,” she admitted, then laughed at herself for being so sensitive. “The last few weeks have just been really hard.”

“I completely understand what you mean,” he replied, a certain grimness in his face that made her uneasy, an expression that grew darker with each passing year of escalating conflict. It made her sad, in a way. “This whole thing… it feels inescapably massive.”

“I know,” she agreed sadly, “I feel so exhausted.”

He looked at her sympathetically; something about the sadness in his big silver eyes made her feel both better and worse at once. She’d told him about the difficulties that they were having with nonbenders refusing treatment from the clinic, and he’d been just as upset as she felt. It seemed senseless that the divide had grown so deep that those who needed help were refusing it simply because it was being offered by a bender. They were afraid of her  _ because _ of her waterbending, despite its healing power and her desire to help with their injuries. There was no trust left; her negative intentions were assumed by many nonbenders in the city as soon as she moved water. While frustrated, she understood how they felt; it wasn’t long ago that she and Sokka felt the same way about firebending. 

Finally, she snapped out of her thoughts when he put a friendly hand on her shoulder, a concerned look in his eyes. “Are you okay, Katara?”

She felt her cheeks heat up at the way her name rolled off of his tongue. “Yeah,” she told him, trying to smile. As much as she was stressed about the health of Republic City’s citizens, she  _ only _ had to worry about mending their health; Aang had the much harder job of trying to reform the entire city, and she hated adding to his stress. “I’m fine.”

“Do you want to go down to the beach?” he asked with a small smile. “Do you think that might help?”

She didn’t even need to see the glint in his eyes to know that he was not offering her a stroll by the shore; he was asking if she wanted to fight him, her only fair match, and spar until she was finally exhausted enough to stop worrying and get some sleep that night. She didn’t need to fake her grin, then. “I think it might,” she said.

They stayed at the beach until after dark; after, it was the first time in weeks that Katara did not toss and turn for hours when she tried to turn in.

It took a couple of days for them both to have an evening free to go out. While she worked long hours at the clinic, Aang was often in meetings late with council members or helping Suki’s rapidly developing police force deal with some sort of emergency that took all night. It wasn’t until Friday that she arrived home in the afternoon after having been sent home by another senior healer—the clinic was thankfully rather empty, and apparently, she needed to go home and rest. Truthfully, she was grateful for the break and desperately looking forward to a long, hot bath, which she indulged in as soon as she got home.

As she finished her bath and began to drain the bathtub, she heard the front door to the house close, muffled through several closed doors. Bending herself dry, she wrapped herself in her pale blue bathrobe before making her way back into her bedroom, opening the door into the hallway a crack to peek outside.

“Sokka?” she called, assuming the councilmen must have taken a break for a late lunch and her brother had come home.

“Try again,” another, equally familiar voice said from much closer than she expected. After jumping in surprise, she opened the door with a flushed face to look at him. He wore a sheepish expression as he grinned apologetically at her. “Sorry—I didn’t mean to scare you. I went to the clinic to find you, but they told me that they sent you home. Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah,” she said, her heart rate beginning to slow down as she recovered from her fright at his sudden appearance. Though his eyes stayed respectfully on her face, she could see the redness on his cheeks and dilation of his pupils. Pressing forward, she explained, “I’ve just been exhausted, and it was pretty empty this morning.”

“That’s perfect,” he said, his face lighting up. “I don’t have anything for the afternoon, either. I was thinking we could go check out that restaurant you suggested.”

“Okay! That would be great,” she replied. Though she’d really intended for it to be merely the background for a group outing, his excitement about it was contagious, and she found herself smiling. Often, they (particularly her brother) didn’t consider his diet when making choices about where to eat, and he’d been enduring years of eating lettuce and rice for dinner in meat-centric restaurants. It hadn’t necessarily been her original intention for the invitation to be a gesture of any sort, but she was glad it made him feel appreciated and seen. 

They chatted for a while in her doorway about when they would go and how formal the dress would be. Katara surmised from the conversation she’d overheard that it was indeed a rather formal restaurant. When she shared that with him, he put his hand to his chin, his eyes scanning over her until her face turned red. “So that’s not what you’re wearing, then?”

“Aang!” she yelled, laughing as she playfully shoved him back out into the hallway. He grinned at her, clearly pleased with himself for making her laugh. “Go get ready; we’ll go when I’m done.”

He agreed and left her alone, and she began to pick out a dress and make herself up to look presentable in a formal setting. It was still early enough in the day to be warm out, so she chose a sleeveless powder blue gown she’d brought home from the Fire Nation at some point. Her hair flowed freely over her back with some collected into her usual small bun to keep it out of her face. It took her hardly any time to finish, and she found him in his room when she was done, sitting at his desk as he poured over one of many papers in front of him. He looked up as soon as she approached, the furrow between his brow fading at the sight of her.

“Ready?” she asked, grinning, always mildly pleased with herself when she was able to draw a reaction from him with so little effort on her part. His cheeks flushed as his eyes darted up to hers, and he grinned, springing to his feet.

“Of course,” he told her, setting a paperweight atop the stack of unfurled scrolls. When he faced her and stepped forward, she was surprised to find herself flustered. Taller than her for over a year now, he appeared to tower over her in his formal robes, falling over his broad shoulders and muscled arms so attractively. Her flushed cheeks turned bright red when she glanced up to his face and found him smirking. “Let’s go,” he said, gesturing past her, and finally she remembered herself and turned to bashfully lead him from the room.

The restaurant wasn’t far from their home, so they decided to walk. He was spotted more than usual along their journey in his formal robes, all square shoulders and confidence. While he was always very polite, he often made sure the interactions were brief—particularly because Katara herself was hardly ever recognized along with him. She did notice a few women giggling to each other and looking at her as their friends or husbands spoke with Aang. It wasn’t uncommon for people to act weird around Aang, so she mostly ignored it, responding with little more than a raised eyebrow. It wasn’t until they reached the fancy new restaurant that it clicked in her mind, and they both stopped in their tracks at the sight of the building.

It was quite large for a restaurant even in their rapidly developing city, built up from two shops that had been taken over in the riots. The exterior was also bright and flashy, standing out among the pale browns, greens, blues, and maroons of Republic City; it was painted bright pink, with a red tiled roof and massive heart balloons flying outside the entrance. They also flew in the sky above the line outside, which stretched down the street in the opposite direction with more people than she could count waiting for a table inside. Slowly, they turned to each other, their faces blank.

“I didn’t know,” she said immediately, her cheeks beginning to flush, “Obviously.”

“It’s okay,” he insisted quickly, “We don’t have to go—it’s not a big deal. We can eat anywhere.”

“No, no,” she said, “We’re already here, that’s ridiculous. We should go, it doesn’t matter.”

His face turned red as he stared at her, his flush growing deeper the longer their eye contact went uninterrupted. Finally, he said, “Are you sure? Because we—“

Suddenly he froze, and before she had time to be confused, he was propelling himself around with his air bending, punching a rock as it flew through the air towards them before blasting the debris away from the crowd waiting outside the restaurant.

Katara knew immediately that it was Toph, both from Aang’s body language as he responded and the call of “Hey, Twinkletoes!” that came shortly after. When she turned to look, she was surprised to see her walking with someone. The young man at her side had tan skin and was dressed in dark blue formal Water Tribe robes, half of his hair tied up behind his head in traditional Water Tribe style. As they walked forward to greet her and Aang, he reached an arm out and linked it with Toph’s.

“Oh, Spirits,” Katara said under her breath. Aang looked at her curiously and then returned his attention to their friend and her date as they approached.

“Hi, Toph!” he greeted excitedly, “Who’s this?”

“Kanto,” she said, “Kanto, this is Aang.”

Kanto bowed to Aang. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Avatar Aang,” he said.

“Just Aang is fine,” he insisted, “And this is Katara.”

“Hello,” Katara greeted him, dipping into a shallow bow which he matched. “Where are you two headed?”

“We’re going out to eat,” Toph said, causing Aang to glance over at Katara with an amused look in his pale blue eyes. “Right over here, actually.”

“Hey, us too!” he said, “Maybe we could sit together.”

Toph smirked. “You guys came out tonight to eat here… together?”

Katara flushed deeply, her heart rate picking up immediately as Toph cackled and continued walking, leaving the rest of them to follow her towards the entrance. She glanced at Aang, embarrassed, and he smiled reassuringly at her. Leading them directly to the host at the front door, she flashed her passport featuring the flying boar symbol. It only took a few lines of schmoozing before they were being led inside ahead of the crowd waiting.

The tables inside were covered in pale pink cloth with a white candle burning in the center of each one. The host led them to two empty tables and pushed them together for the group. Katara glanced at Aang and found him looking studiously away from her, his face flushed, and she began to feel vaguely nauseous.

As they sat down, Toph asked the man who had helped them for a bottle of their nicest wine, and he nodded politely before leaving. Finally, Katara had a chance to respond to Toph’s accusation. “We didn’t realize it was… I don’t know, a couple’s restaurant or whatever. I just overheard some people at work talking about a new vegetarian restaurant in the city with really good food.”

Suddenly, the amusement vanished from Toph’s expression as she froze. “A new  _ what _ restaurant?”

Katara glanced over at Kanto and found that his face was pale with surprise. Smirking, she confirmed, “Yup, vegetarian. That’s why we’re here.” Then, to Kanto, she politely added, “Aang is a vegetarian.”

“And I am not,” Toph said harshly. 

“I’m sure it will be delicious,” Aang insisted, “We’re already here, let’s just eat.” When no one said anything, he tried again, “So are you guys together? How long have you been dating?”

“This is only our second date,” Toph said, “And he’s already got one strike now.”

Aang laughed politely but stopped when Toph didn’t laugh with him, clearing his throat nervously. Katara felt bad for Kanto and for Aang for feeling any responsibility for the situation, but she was also amused and didn’t want to intervene. The longer she stared at Kanto across the table diagonally from her, the more he began to look like her brother, and the whole thing was becoming rather comedic to her in a strange sort of way. 

Finally, the waiter came over with a bottle of red wine and four glasses. Aang politely declined when offered, but the waiter poured a serving for each of the rest of them. Katara took a large sip gratefully.

Dinner went by at glacial speeds; Katara found the whole situation rather awkward, but the food  _ was _ delicious, and there was more variety than she would have thought. They served vegetarian options of food from all four nations, and she and Kanto had both enjoyed the seaweed noodles offered at one point. She just found herself unable to shake the strangeness of the situation off; the last thing she had expected was to be on a double date with Aang, Toph, and a random stranger from the Northern Tribe, and the more similarities she spotted between him and Sokka, the more her discomfort increased. Kanto kept telling jokes that made her roll her eyes, and he seemed genuinely upset to be eating a meal devoid of meat. There was something about the way he moved and spoke that she found uncanny. Aang did not seem put off by it in the same way that she was, and he spoke easily with Kanto, making conversation throughout their meal when Toph failed to engage in any of his attempts at socializing. 

As they were picking at dessert, all of them full despite Toph and Kanto’s initial reservations, Aang asked them, “Hey, what are you guys doing tonight? After this?”

Kanto glanced at Toph, who kept her head angled down towards her plate. “Nothing specific, I think—why?” she answered for them.

“You should come over if you’re free! Maybe Sokka and Suki will be home by now,” he offered.

Katara looked over at him immediately; she wanted to correct him or revoke the offer, but she didn’t want to be rude. It was hard for her to even imagine how uncomfortable that would be, but the strange relationship between Toph and her brother and this new date of hers seemed to go right over Aang’s head. Finally, after mulling it over for a few moments, Toph responded, “That would be great! I haven’t seen Sokka in weeks.”

She sighed in response, and Toph’s head turned noticeably in her direction. Aang seemed unaware and beamed at Kanto. “You’ll love Sokka! He’s Katara’s brother,” he began before going on to give Toph’s date expository information about their group. Before Katara could turn back to pick sullenly at her dessert, Toph reached over and wrapped a hand around her forearm. 

“Let’s go to the bathroom together,” she said.

Katara glanced around the restaurant, surveying their surroundings. The floors were made of stone all around them. “Why?” she asked, “You can—“

“Sugar Queen and I are going to the bathroom,” Toph announced to the boys sitting across from them as she stood. They only vaguely looked up to nod, and Toph waited expectantly. With another sigh, Katara stood, pushing her chair in before leading Toph to the restroom.

Inside, an attendant offered to touch up their makeup or give them a spritz of perfume; Katara politely declined while Toph patently ignored her, instead turning to round on Katara. “You have no business judging who I decide to date,” she said harshly, crossing her arms, “Especially not when you can’t even get your own shit together.”

Katara smiled apologetically at the attendant, who looked mildly horrified at the suddenly angry and loud young blind woman screaming in her restroom. To Toph, she said, “I don’t have any problem with Kanto, and I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Bullshit,” Toph accused, “I caught you two practically out on a date tonight. I don’t know if you’re pissed that we interrupted you or what, but that’s not an excuse for being such a dick to him.”

“Toph,” Katara said, trying to appease her before the attendant went searching for security, “I told you that it wasn’t supposed to be a date in any way. We tried to get Sokka and Suki to come with us tonight, but Sokka didn’t want to eat here. And I’m sorry I sighed at Kanto, I just think the whole situation is a little weird.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?” Toph asked. Katara saw her eyes narrow through the fringe of hair covering her face.

“Well, to introduce him to Sokka,” she said, then quickly tried to move on, “I thought you had to go to the bathroom; I bet Aang and Kanto will be ready to go soon.”

“I like him,” Toph insisted, raising an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with him meeting my friends?”

Katara sighed and glanced around the restroom to confirm it was empty, save for the attendant who eyed them cautiously. She was grateful for the relative privacy and gently said, “It just might be uncomfortable; Don’t you think Sokka’s going to notice that… well, Kanto is exactly like him?”

Toph’s face turned bright red. Katara waited anxiously for her reply, tension boiling in the air between them. Finally, she said, “Fuck you, Katara. I can’t believe you. If you’re worried about making people uncomfortable you should worry about the fucked up way you’re treating Aang,” she said, smirking as she felt Katara’s heart rate pick up in response. “You treat him like he’s your boyfriend when it’s convenient for you because you like the attention, and then turn around and act like you’re just friends when it gets to be too much. Do you have any idea how that affects him?”

Katara’s face flushed deeper than Toph’s had, and she took a moment to calm down before she started a war that would leave the restaurant in shambles. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she took a deep breath. “We  _ are _ just friends, Toph. Let’s just go back,” she suggested.

“Pretending that you’re not hurting him doesn’t keep his heart from getting broken,” Toph spat at her, “At least Sokka has some fucking tact about the situation.”

Stunned, Katara stood frozen to the spot as Toph shoved past her and out into the hallway. For a moment all she could think about was Aang, sitting and talking with Kanto with such enthusiasm, as if they were old friends. He didn’t seem heartbroken to her, and her stomach twisted to think that Toph would make something like that up just to hurt her. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she offered the bathroom attendant a meager apology and several coins from her clutch as a tip before slipping out the door after Toph. 

Back at the table, Toph was already sitting down. While Katara took her seat next to her, Toph told her, “I asked for the bill. And a few bottles of wine to go.”

“I think that’s exactly what we need,” Katara responded, implicitly agreeing to drop their argument in front of the boys. To punctuate her statement, she lifted her glass from dinner to her lips and drained it. When she put it down, she noticed Aang looking between them with mild concern. Thankfully, the waiter arrived before he could say anything, carrying a large bag on one arm. He set it down at their table as Toph paid. Kanto offered to carry the wine for Toph on their way back, and they began walking to Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Suki’s home. On the way, Kanto asked about Sokka and Suki. When Toph provided him with a subpar answer, Aang politely filled him in on who their friends were.

Back at the house, Katara was dismayed to find that Sokka and Suki were indeed both home already; they were sitting on the couch looking over papers from their respective works, but both of them quickly put down what they were doing when Toph came in behind Aang and Katara. Introductions were quickly interrupted by Sokka’s excitement over the wine, and Suki went to go get them glasses while Sokka cleared their papers off of the sitting table. On either side of the large couch that seated Sokka and Suki was a loveseat, and Katara sat down at one, while Kanto and Toph shared the other. Aang instinctively sat next to her; she let him take the seat closer to the couch, next to Suki, less than interested in being social with everyone that night. Once the wine had been poured into glasses and everyone found a seat, Sokka turned to Toph and her date and seemed to realize for the first time that there was a stranger in their house.

When Toph took no initiative in introducing him, Kanto bowed to Sokka and gave his own name. Delighted that he was also from the Water Tribes, Sokka immediately began asking him about his background and his family. Before Katara could lean in and interrupt to tell her brother how inappropriate it was to ask that immediately—people did not always come to Republic City for happy reasons—Kanto began to enthusiastically describe his upbringing. The similarities between the two, from their facial expressions to tones of voice to senses of humor, was striking and made her feel uneasy. Suddenly, she was very warm and uncomfortable in her formal gown.

Turning to Aang, she caught his eyes immediately darting to meet hers and smiled at him. “I think I need to go upstairs and change. It feels stuffy to be dressed so formally at home,” she said, then added, tugging at the thick cape of his formal robes, “How about you?”

“Sure,” he agreed, grinning back at her. As they stood, Katara tried to let everyone know where they were going, but only Suki gave her a small smile and nod of acknowledgement. Flushing, Katara turned to follow Aang up the stairs, eager to get to her room (and away from the awkwardness in their sitting room) to shed her long, heavy dress, already not looking forward to their return.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alcohol content warning for this chapter!

Once settled back downstairs, Katara spent a moment surveying the situation before her. Sokka and Kanto were speaking animatedly, leaning into one another as they talked. Toph looked rather pleased with herself, while Suki looked like, for possibly the first time, she had no idea how to tactfully respond to Toph’s crush. When Sokka excitedly asked Kanto to share his ice dodging story, Kanto slapped a friendly hand on Sokka’s shoulder and told him that he wanted to hear his first. That was too much for Katara, and she turned to Aang with a huff, leaning in until she was close enough that only he could hear.

As his cheeks turned red, she whispered, “I need to get out of here. Will you come with me?”

He gave her a wry smirk and nodded, and that was all the confirmation she needed. Springing up from her seat, she snatched up one of the bottles of wine Toph had purchased.

“Aang and I are going to the beach,” she said without waiting for anyone’s attention. Suki looked at her, blank expression unchanging, and Katara smiled apologetically at her. “I need some air,” she added before turning to head for the door. When she glanced behind her, Aang’s yellow and orange robes were a blur as he followed her. On their way out the front door, he grabbed his staff, leaning against the wall in the entryway. 

Outside, Katara took a deep breath of night air and exhaled slowly as Aang shut the door behind them. “That was too weird,” she said, shaking her head to get the image of the two out of her head.

With a grin, Aang started walking, and she fell into step with him as they headed away from the house. “Do you actually want to go to the beach?” he asked, eyeing her as she bent a small orb of water from her waterskin into a frozen corkscrew shape, then used it to open the wine bottle without stuttering in her pace beside him.

“Sure,” she said, “I think I could use a distraction after that.”

He watched her as she took a swig from the bottle. “I’m not sure what you mean,” he said. “It’s a little weird that Sokka is getting along so well with her date considering… well, how she feels about him, but she didn’t seem to be too into him. I think it’s nice for Sokka to make friends his age--especially from the Water Tribes.”

Katara looked at him blankly, trying to assess whether that was honestly his perception of the night. He always viewed things in the most positive light possible, as if others always had the best of intentions. Even Toph, who almost never had the best of intentions. She almost wanted to ask him if he’d go looking for a waterbender their age from the North if she never came around but wasn’t nearly drunk enough to voice her sardonic question. Instead, she delicately explained to him, “Aang, Kanto looks and acts just like Sokka. Toph was actually pretty into him, too, and she kind of almost seemed into the idea of Sokka training him to be sort of… I don’t know, some weird knock off version of my brother. It’s creepy.”

Aang was silent for a moment as they continued walking, reaching the bustling streets of Republic City as they went. At one quiet corner, he stopped, and she did, too, looking at him curiously. “I have my glider if you want—it’s kind of busy. Unless you’d rather walk.”

“Let’s walk,” she said with a smile, “I might spill my wine. Sorry if that was too harsh—I really think that’s what was happening.” Her conversation with Toph would have supported her point of view, but bringing it up would also mean rehashing everything their friend had said about them, and she didn’t think either of them needed the awkwardness that would surround that. She took another swig from the bottle to wash the thought away.

“No,” he said after a moment of consideration. They kept their voices low to avoid being overheard. It was late enough that most people out had consumed a few drinks themselves, and no one stopped to look at or recognize the two of them as they made their way down the streets of the city. “I think it’s fair. Maybe it is stepping over a line, a bit.” 

“Her crush on Sokka is so weird,” Katara continued. Normally she would not be so blunt about their friends’ feelings, but it had been wearing on her all night. “He doesn’t entertain the idea of being with her; I don’t understand why she keeps after him the way she does.”

As a small silence began to stretch between them, Katara took the opportunity to drink some more of her wine. They were getting closer to the beach, and she could feel the invigorating ocean wind on her face. When she turned to look at him after a moment or two, he was staring at her, calculating, and she flushed deeply. In her tipsiness, she had not noticed the intensity of his attention trained firmly on her. He looked away finally when she became uncomfortable. “People can’t really control the way they feel,” he said finally, his voice quiet.

Immediately, she realized her mistake and almost told him aloud that she wasn’t referring to him. However, she wasn’t sure it would help, and she wasn’t sure it was completely, one hundred percent true. Instead, she took a deep breath and shifted her approach, saying, “You’re right—she’s just so assertive about it sometimes.”

“It doesn’t seem to bother Sokka,” Aang pointed out, “Though Suki looked a little ruffled tonight.”

Katara laughed at the memory of her friend’s face. Suki was practically her sister, and she felt terrible about the situation she was in at the moment. She also knew that her brother loved Suki with all of his heart and had no interest in Toph in that way whatsoever; Suki had nothing to worry about. It was just one uncomfortable night, and it would be over in the morning. It was her brother who had her pity and even Toph, somewhat, for the way they stretched out their situation and the pain that it slowly caused. “She’ll be fine. She knows who Sokka’s going to go to bed with tonight,” she joked.

“So does Toph,” he responded, his voice almost mourning in tone. Katara shot him a sideways glance, and he added, “I love Suki. I think her and Sokka are perfect for each other and make each other better people, and it’s great that they’re so in love. I just… feel for Toph.”

Katara considered that as they made their way onto the boardwalk. Toph’s attitude was unchanging and stubborn, like a rock. When she had her mind (or heart) set on something, she wouldn’t stop until she had what she wanted, no matter what anyone else said about her goals or tactics. “I guess. It just gets really weird, sometimes.”

“And yet their friendship thrives,” Aang said with a small smile. There were so many statements about their own relationship that stemmed, unspoken, from his comment, and she sighed, taking a chug from her wine bottle. Glancing at her, he added, “Are you sure it’s okay to bend after drinking like that?”

“Yeah,” she insisted, “I didn’t have that much.” However, when she swished the bottle in her hand, it was half empty. “Well... I feel okay.”

Aang grinned at her and headed out onto the sand, leading them to a more isolated spot further down the shore. Groups of teenage friends passing around liquor bottles and lovers embracing and whispering to one another lined the beach, and neither of them wanted to draw the attention of everyone with their sparring. He was quiet for a while as they walked, and she sipped her wine to fill the silence. Each time she glanced over at him, he was staring away from her, over at the ocean. After a few minutes of walking, he finally said, “I get it; it’s been tough lately, and that wasn’t how you planned on the night going.”

“Not at all!” she exclaimed, “I wanted all five of us to go out— _ not _ with some weirdo Toph just started dating—and have a nice dinner. Instead I had to watch Sokka flirt with his look alike.”

He laughed at that, looking at her with an amused glimmer in his eyes. “Well, I had a good time,” he insisted, “The food was good, and it was really great to spend time with you and Toph for the first time in almost a month. And Kanto was… nice enough.”

“Okay, okay,” she admitted, unable to resist his endless positivity. The wine made it a lot easier to frame the night as a fun success; she  _ had  _ had a good meal with two of her closest friends. “It wasn’t so bad. I do feel a lot better now.”

“I’m glad,” he said, smiling at her, “The other healers at the clinic this morning told me how hard you’ve been working lately. You deserve a break, even if all there’s time for is dinner. We all do.”

“And wine on the beach,” she insisted, taking another sip. “Particularly  _ that _ . I really needed that.”

He shot her a playfully admonishing glare and nodded towards the water. When she stopped to look around, the shore was clear for as far as she could see. They had the beach to themselves. Grinning, she wedged her quarter full bottle of wine into the sand and took off for the water. 

“Katara!” he laughed, running after her.

As she reached the water, she immediately sent a water whip his way, which he caught fluidly and redirected back at her. The alcohol slowed her reaction time enough that she squealed as she dove out of the way, fueling herself forward on a large wave as she froze a surfboard from ice beneath her feet. He went after her, and they sparred for a while, the water flowing almost naturally between them. Then Katara’s water whips began to fall limp, her waves shuddering out sadly. Aang rushed over to her when she began to grow frustrated with the power of her bending.

“Hey,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. They were both still fully dressed, their clothes soaked in ocean water. “It’s getting late anyway. Why don’t we go back?”

She looked at him with a small frown before nodding. He grinned at her reassuringly as he led her from the water, bending the seawater from their clothes when they reached the shore. He held a small flame in his hand to provide them both light and heat, and she jogged over to snag her wine bottle from the sand. She took a sip and, with distaste at its warmth, froze the bottom of the bottle to cool off her beverage once more. Then they started off the way they had come earlier; the beach was emptier now as people began to pack their things up and head home. 

“Ugh, I hope _ Kanto _ isn’t still there when we get back,” she said, swishing her wine around in its bottle.

“I think Sokka asked them to stay,” he said apologetically, “While you were still upstairs changing. They’ve probably had too much to drink to go home.”

Surveying her wine bottle, she knocked its contents back and chugged the rest, downing nearly a glassful at once. She sighed as she brought the rim from her lips. “Hopefully everyone’s in bed, then.”

He shot her a disapproving look, and she glared back at him until his expression softened. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m just exhausted.” She had been telling him that all night, but neither of them fully bought it. After a minute, she added, “It feels like nothing’s  _ changing _ . We just have the same problems and they keep getting worse and worse; I don’t know where we go from here.”

He was quiet as they walked across the sand. Katara tossed her empty wine bottle in the first garbage can they came across. Eventually Aang said, “A  _ lot _ is changing. None of this was even here five years ago. I’m not saying it’s perfect—far from it—but it’s better than what it was.”

She pondered that briefly before it got lost in the fog of her intensifying tipsiness. The beach was beginning to sway for her as they went, and she stumbled once in the sand. She was only stopped from falling when Aang reached out and caught her.

“Let’s get you home so you can sleep this off; I’m sure you’ll feel better in the morning.” 

She wanted to tell him that every one of her days was tinged with that feeling, at least a little bit. As they reached the steps up onto the boardwalk, she tripped before she could say anything more, and Aang shot a gust of air at her back, blowing her up into the air to catch her in his arms. It was over before she blinked, and her head was spinning when she looked up at him.

“Stairs,” he told her with a mildly patronizing smile. Unsure if she could make it up herself, she held onto him as he carried her up to the boardwalk before setting her back down. When she swayed in place, he hooked an arm around to support her back, and they kept walking. “Katara… if you need to change something up—“

“I’m okay,” she insisted. Her drunken mind flashed to images of the snowy Southern Tribe, of her dad in his icy mansion, of the weird semi-familiar, semi-comforting life that was an option for her, an option she strayed farther from with each passing day. Shaking her head, she tried to think instead of the clinic she was building, the community she was helping, the family and home she had right there in Republic City. She glanced over at him to find him still eyeing her strangely, and she smiled at him reassuringly. While she was looking up at him, the tip of her shoe caught along a plank on the boardwalk and she nearly tripped forward once more before Aang caught her again.

“You’re a mess,” he told her affectionately, winding his arm tighter around her back, his hand resting firmly on her waist as he tried to hold her up. He felt warm, and she leaned into him, making his job harder. Smiling, he continued, “But I’m glad you feel okay.”

“We need to do this more,” she insisted, “All of us.”

“Unfortunately I think the opposite may happen,” he said quietly, guiding her off the boardwalk, back toward the streets of Republic City, now darker and emptier. “It has been for some time.”

Katara sighed in sullen agreement. Though the walk home was only a few moments, it felt like forever as the streets swayed beneath her feet. The night wind blew cold, but Aang was always warm, and his arm around her back kept the worst of the night chill from getting to her. She was relieved when they arrived home and found the lights out in the sitting room.

“See? They went to bed already,” Aang told her as he held the front door open, allowing her to step inside ahead of him.

“Thank the Spirits,” she said with a sigh, surveying the mess they left behind on the table. It was strewn with empty glasses and bottles, along with some paper covered in increasingly sloppy and messy drawings. Katara vaguely recognized them as Sokka’s “artwork” and rolled her eyes. “Hopefully in separate rooms,” she added.

“Toph and Kanto?” Aang asked curiously, walking over to the table. His face lit up, and he lifted a sheet of paper up to show her the drawing on it. “Look, this is when we met!”

Katara was able to vaguely make out the shape of a figure inside a giant oval that Sokka must have intended to be the iceberg Aang had been trapped in. Beneath it was a scribble that she was sure was meant to be her and her brother in their boat on the water below. Her expression softened, and she stepped forward to examine the drawings further; they were depictions of various scenes from the time they had spent traveling together as children, searching for masters to teach Aang all of the elements. Sokka must have spent the night recounting the tales of their journey after they left. 

“Sokka and Kanto,” she corrected with a smirk.

“It does seem like they really bonded,” Aang admitted with a smile, looking over the drawing in his hands again. She looked over the table once more as he folded the drawing up and stuffed it into his pocket. Finally, she found one of the wine bottles was still partially full and picked it up, taking a large swig from the room temperature wine. 

“ _ Katara _ ,” he scolded. She smiled innocently at him and put the now empty bottle back down; he was unable to resist, his expression softening instantly. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

“Sounds good,” she said, sighing as she stretched. She  _ was _ tired; it wasn’t just the weeks of straight work they had all been through but the exhaustion of an entire bottle’s worth of wine hitting her at once. The room began to sway again where it had been somewhat still moments ago.

“Do you think you can do the stairs?”

“Uh…” she said, glancing over at the flight of stairs. They were tall and steep, but she had definitely never fallen down them before. “Probably.”

He looked at her suspiciously and gestured for her to go first, so she did, getting up the two steps to the platform herself before stumbling dangerously. With an affectionate sigh, he scooped her up again, causing her stomach to lurch. She wrapped her arms around his neck for safety, taking a deep breath as she attempted to will the world to stop spinning.

Once they finally reached her bedroom, he pushed the heavy wooden door open, carrying her over the threshold into the room before shutting it behind him. She hummed drunkenly in his arms, and he sighed as he carried her over to her bedside, resting her down against the covers.

“Lay on your side,” he told her. When she looked confused, he reached down to gently grab her shoulder, turning her over so that she was no longer lying on her back. “Stay like that, okay?”

“Wait,” she said, sitting up as he started to step away from the bed, “I can’t sleep in my clothes.”

Looking somewhat amused, Aang paused to assess what she was requesting. Her huge cerulean eyes were shining up at him and, paired with that adorable pout, were able to make him do almost anything. “Do you need me to get you something to wear to bed? What do you usually—“

“No, it’s too hot here,” she insisted, “I usually just sleep in my bindings.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, about to ask her what she needed when she reached up to undo her belt. She was able to get the simple knot there undone, and began to go for the ties holding her shirt together.

“Katara—“ he began uneasily as she fumbled with the delicate ties.

“I can’t get it,” she complained, looking up at him with deep sadness in her blue eyes, “Can you help?”

Aang took a moment to appraise the situation. He could tell from the flush on her cheeks that she was warm, and it was obvious that her motor coordination and judgement were both seriously suffering in her drunken state. Sighing, he sat down on the bed next to her, ensuring there was a safe several inches between them. He had seen her in her underwrappings plenty of times, he reasoned, and this was no different. The ties easily came undone when he worked at them with his nimble fingers, careful not to touch her, and he helped her pull the material from her shoulders.

“I feel so much better now,” she exhaled heavily, dropping herself back against the bed as he stood to hang her shirt up. Turning around, he found her wiggling back and forth on the bed, trying to remove her skirt.

“Let me help,” he said uncertainly, taking his place by her side again. He removed each of her shoes carefully, shooting unseen glares at her for her unhelpfully stiff muscles; she was focused on her skirt and was too drunk to properly cooperate with him. Trying to touch her as little as possible, he reached for her skirt next and tugged the material down her thighs, over her knees and off completely, until she was lying against the covers in just her bindings. He pointedly looked away as he went to put her skirt away next to her shirt. “Is there anything else you need?” he asked, reluctant to stick around any longer than necessary now that she was in her underwear before him.

“No,” she answered, then frowned at him. “You’re not going to leave, are you?” she slurred, beginning to sit up.

“I have to go back to my own room to go to bed,” he told her delicately. She looked hurt, her eyebrows scrunched together and her eyes wide as she watched him. He hated to see her in any sort of distress, but he wasn't sure she would appreciate him honoring her request when she woke up the next morning—he was almost positive she wouldn’t remember any of this tomorrow.

“But I don’t want to be alone,” she said, her big blue eyes sparkling with sadness, “Can’t you stay?”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea,” he replied honestly, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. She looked so gorgeous sitting below him, wearing nothing but her wraps, her silky, long brown hair draped over her shoulders as she stared up at him, like every dream he’d had about her since he’d met her at 12. “I’ll be right next door if you need anything.”

“Please?” she begged, pouting again. He laughed as she fluttered her eyelids in what he was sure she intended to be an attractive manner but in her intoxication looked rather like a nervous twitch. This seemed to annoy her, and she reached forward to tug at his robes, her eyebrows furrowed. “Why are you laughing at me?”

“Katara,” he said gently, “You’re really drunk right now. You just have to go to sleep.”

“Not alone,” she insisted, pulling at the material of his robes once again as she gazed up at him pleadingly. “Please? I don’t want to be alone.”

“Maybe I can go get one of the girls to stay with you,” he suggested. “How about…” he trailed off, imagining how any of their friends would feel about having their night interrupted at this late hour.

“They’re both with someone,” she said miserably. She withdrew her hand from his robes and pulled her legs up until her thighs were pressed to her chest. Wrapping her arms around her folded legs, she rested her chin atop her knees, looking down sadly. 

Unable to take the crestfallen look on her face, he sat down beside her to comfort her and knew that he had lost the second she curled into his side, so much of her hot skin touching him. “Has that been bothering you?” he asked softly, holding her with an arm around her back, his hand resting safely on her shoulder.

“No... It’s just lonely sometimes, like tonight,” she said, nuzzling into him as she let her bent legs down, her knees resting against his thigh as she leaned into him, all soft, bare mocha skin. Aang took a few deep belly breaths to focus himself before things spiraled out of control.

“Katara,” he said, a touch more firmly this time, trying to subtly put a little bit more space between them, “I’m really not so sure it’s a good idea for me to stay here with you.”

“Why not?” she asked, sitting up enough to look at him with doleful blue eyes, “We sleep in the same room all the time.”

“Sleeping in the same room and sleeping in the same bed are different, and I definitely wouldn’t say all the time, anyway,” he insisted gently, though he would admit there were situations here and there during their travels when only a single room was available for them. “I’ll sleep on the floor if you want,” he offered.

Katara wrinkled her nose in response. Aang tried desperately to keep deep breathing through the way her cute expression made his heart pound in his chest. “My bed is sooo comfy. Why would you sleep on the floor?”

“Because you’re drunk,” he repeated, grinning despite himself at her persistence. “Drunk you might want me here, but I don’t think sober you would be very happy in the morning.”

She looked confused as she worked his statement out, her dark eyebrows furrowed while she thought. “What do you mean?” she asked, “Why would I be upset to see you?”

Finally, he felt his defenses breaking down in the face of her drunken innocence. “Never mind,” he told her, pulling away from their embrace. She began to object but stopped when she saw him beginning to take his boots off.

“You’re staying?” she asked, her face lighting up. The genuineness of her excitement caused his chest to ache.

“It’s the only way I’m going to get you to go to sleep,” he teased, forcing a smile at her. Standing up, he walked around to the other side of the bed and pulled the covers back, climbing onto the bed. “Okay?”

“Yes,” she replied, grinning, “Thank you.” He bent the candles lining the walls out, and the room was filled with darkness. Opposite him, he could hear her rustling against the sheets until her alcohol-tinged breath was hitting his face with each exhale. “Hi,” she whispered.

“ _ Katara _ ,” he tried to protest, laughing again at her uncharacteristic childishness, “Sleep. I thought you said you’d sleep if I stayed.”

“I’m not tired,” she argued, scooting closer. He froze when their knees touched, hers bare against the thin material of his pants. “And I don’t remember saying that.”

“Do you  _ remember _ how many glasses of wine you had?” he asked sarcastically. Though he couldn’t see her expression through the darkness, he could hear her huff in response. 

After a beat, she asked, “Are you mad at me?”

He softened at that, his muscles gradually relaxing. “No, of course not,” he assured her.

It was silent for a moment, and for a second he thought that maybe she finally had put her head down to go to sleep—she was very drunk, and he was anticipating that she would pass out before long, if not involuntarily, then from wine sleepiness. He had just started to consider whether he would go back to his own room once she fell asleep or not when she suddenly scooted forward until they were touching from thigh to chest and pressed her lips to his. Surprised, he sat motionless for a moment, his mind singularly focused on the bitter taste of alcohol on her lips. After a brief moment, he began to move instinctively, his lips sliding against her own as her hand moved to cup his face. Though their kisses between the years had been  _ very _ few and far between, he had still kissed her more than he had any other girl in his life (even excluding the times that had only been in his daydreams), and she felt so warm and familiar and comforting against him. He shivered involuntarily when her hot, wet tongue traced his bottom lip. Without thinking, he parted his lips to let her in, and she moaned audibly against him when his tongue met hers.

He felt the salacious tone of her sound of pleasure all over his body, shooting through him like lightning, and to his extreme embarrassment, he felt his cock twitch and begin to harden beneath his clothes, against her hip. That was enough to snap him out of his daze, and he pulled away from her as carefully as he could while still being firm, making his intentions clear, hoping desperately that she had not felt his arousal. Once they were separated, he sat up, quickly lighting a single candle on her bedside table as he did so.

“Maybe I should go,” he said reluctantly, turning to look down at her flushed, stunned face. 

“No,” she protested immediately, sitting up slightly, resting her weight on one elbow, “Please don’t. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

The tears shining in her bright blue eyes were, as always, enough to push him over the edge. “It’s okay,” he told her, against his better judgement, “I’ll stay if you promise not to do that again.”

“You don’t want to kiss me?” she asked sadly. Aang had to close his eyes at that, taking another deep breath as he wondered what spirit he had pissed off to bring this torture upon himself. 

Finally, he forced himself to smile at her, taking in her brows furrowed in concern and her  _ wet _ lips. “That’s not important,” he told her patiently, “You’re drunk right now, and you should be going to sleep.”

“You keep saying that,” she started, then sat up, her face suddenly paling in the candle light.

“Oh, Katara,” he said, quickly scooping her up in his arms and making his way to the bathroom, “Hang on, Sweetie.”

Inside, he set her down on the tile floor in front of the toilet and moved behind her to hold her hair back as she leaned forward to heave into the bowl, having made it just in time. With a sigh, Aang rubbed her back comfortingly with one hand as he held her hair loosely with his other, feeling his stomach clench in time with her own as she emptied all of the wine she had consumed back out into the toilet. It seemed like forever before he felt her muscles begin to still beneath his touch. Finally, she rested her forehead against the cool toilet seat, her face still ghostly pale, eyes shut as she tried to calm down. 

He gave her a minute, continuing to rub her back, before he prompted her to make sure that she was awake, “Do you feel better now?”

Her head lifted and her eyelids fluttered open, her blue, bloodshot eyes seeking his gaze. “Yeah,” she said, her voice croaking, “Did you call me Sweetie?”

Flustered that she had noticed that through her oncoming sickness, he felt blood rush to his face at her question. “Sorry,” he apologized, “You were about to throw up on me.”

That brought some color back to her face, her cheeks turning pink. “ _ I’m _ sorry,” she whispered hoarsely, “I don’t mind. It’s kind of cute.”

“Oh… okay,” he said neutrally, shocked. Desperate to change the subject, he began to stand up. “Let’s get you back inside. Do you think you can walk on your own?”

Her woeful expression as she gazed up at him provided her answer. Sighing, he ducked down, wrapping an arm around her for support. She stood up with his help, and together they hobbled back into the bedroom, and he helped her lie down beneath the blanket. “Will you still stay?” she asked hopefully, her eyes shining up at him.

“Remember our deal,” he said, half-teasingly. Her forehead wrinkled in confusion, and he laughed, lying down on the opposite side atop the covers, careful to leave her enough blanket. Obviously, she had forgotten their earlier conversation. “It’s okay,” he reassured her for the second time that night, “Let’s just go to sleep.”

“I’m so tired now,” she agreed, stretching out beneath the silky duvet, cuddling into it. “Come lay under the blanket, it’s so cozy.”

“I’m fine,” he insisted, trying but failing not to think of her lithe, half-naked form beneath the covers. “It’s warm in here.’

“Mmh,” she hummed, cuddling into his chest. At least now there was a blanket separating them, so he allowed her to nuzzle against the material of his robes. She was asleep in minutes, her slowed breathing signifying that she had drifted off. Carefully, he reached over to tuck her hair behind her ear so that it did not tickle her face while she slept. She looked so beautiful, so peaceful with her eyes closed in the candlelight, from the feminine curve of her jaw, the last of her baby fat having vanished in the past few years, to the shadows of her long eyelashes against her tan cheeks. He was incredibly grateful that she had finally fallen asleep, as he wasn’t sure how many more times he would have been able to turn her down. Katara had always sought out physical contact when drunk, but she had never acted quite like that before. Wondering what had caused her to pounce on him like that, he recalled what she had said about all of their friends being in relationships and then quickly tried to think about something else, not able to handle the idea that she had just kissed him because she felt lonely and he was a body beside her. Even as intoxicated as she was, he couldn’t imagine her forgetting his feelings for her, forgetting how much it would crush him for her to regard his affections so casually. Above all, she was empathetic, and she’d always been exceptionally sensitive about their situation. Pressing a quick kiss to her forehead, he tried to relax back into the pillows, hoping to fall asleep. Unfortunately, he wound up lying there for over an hour, just watching her sleep, before he was finally able to drift off himself.

* * *

  
  


Despite his difficulty falling asleep, he woke up before her the next morning, startled at first by the warm weight of her body against his. Then he remembered what had happened the night before and sighed heavily, glancing towards the window for any sign of what time it might be. Based on how bright it was out, he figured they didn’t have long until their friends would be expecting them to show up for breakfast. He tried to sit up without disturbing her, his muscles stiff from lying in the same position beneath her all night, but she began to stir as he moved. His first clue that she was conscious was the way she began to cringe at what he imagined was quite the migraine.

“Good morning,” he teased quietly, deciding it best to announce his presence as soon as possible.

Her eyes flew open at the sound of his voice, wide and bloodshot as she scrambled off of him, onto the several feet of empty space on the bed behind her. “What are you doing here?” she asked, alarmed, before feeling her chest and hips to make sure she was still wearing her bindings. When she realized that she was and that Aang had just woken up fully clothed, she relaxed a little bit but continued to eye him cautiously.

“Katara,” he began, keeping his voice low to avoid worsening her headache, “Do you remember anything about last night?”

She looked confused for a moment, and he got up to give her a moment to think. Moving over to the window, he closed the curtains to shut the sunlight out so that it was no longer shining in her face. Then, he grabbed the empty pitcher from her bedside table and brought it to the bathroom to fill it with water. He made his way back to her bedside and filled the empty glass that had sat beside the pitcher and turned to hand it to her.

“Thank you,” she said, sounding reserved. Her face was bright red, and when she reached out to take the glass of water from him, she avoided looking into his eyes. Still, she chugged the glass of water gratefully.

“I take it you remembered something about last night,” he teased with a grin, sitting against the foot of the bed to talk to her.

“Everything, unfortunately,” she replied morosely, setting the glass back down on her table before lying back down and pulling the blanket over her head.

“Katara,” he laughed, tugging at the covers until her head was revealed. “It’s not a big deal. You’re always a… well, sort of an amorous drunk.”

“ _ Amorous _ ?” she whined, trying to jerk the blankets back. He held tight onto them, smiling reassuringly at her. Finally, she gave up, groaning as she threw herself back down against the pillows. “I’m never drinking again.”

“I’m sure I’ve heard you say that before,” he teased, nudging her knee through the blanket. “It really  _ wasn’t _ that bad.” He paused for a moment, thinking, before adding, “I’m sorry I kissed you.”

She picked her head up when he said that, looking at him oddly. “Am I remembering what happened wrong?”

“I didn’t drink last night,” he insisted, “And I knew you had. I shouldn’t have let you kiss me—definitely not for so long,” he added, his cheeks flushing as he spoke.

“Aang,” she laughed softly, finally sitting up against the pillows again, pulling the blankets with her to keep herself covered, “I really pushed you. I’m not upset—I feel guilty, and I’m embarrassed.” she admitted.

“I can tell,” he said with a small smile, “But you don’t have to be. The situation sort of de-escalated itself when you threw up, anyway.”

Apparently not amused, she took a few deep breaths, her chest heaving beneath the covers with each inhale. Finally, softly, she said, “Thank you for staying with me last night.”

“Anything for you,” he told her genuinely, standing up from her bed for the final time. “Our friends are going to be looking for us soon, I think. I’m going to go back to my room to get ready. See you downstairs for breakfast?”

When she nodded, smiling, the blanket still tucked up over her shoulders to cover her frame, he turned to leave, pushing her wooden bedroom door open.

He was halfway through the doorway when he heard her murmur from behind him, “See you, Sweetie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The name I chose for Toph's date is actually from LoK; in book four, Toph says that Lin's father is a man named Kanto, and Lin's reaction makes it clear that she's lying. My headcanon is that every time Toph's daughters ask who their fathers are she gives different names of random ex-boyfriends. My partner and I also have a headcanon that Zuko is Lin's father and Sokka is Suyin's father but we don't need to go there


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the comments on the last chapter; I really appreciate it when anyone takes the time to give me feedback! Most comments were about Katara’s behavior in these first few chapters, and I’ve actually read each comment carefully and spent a lot of time thinking about what everyone said (what else is there to do in quarantine, lol); I was really planning to focus on the start of the semester but I got fired up and spent the snow day finishing this chapter. I also wanted to address some themes that came up but accidentally wrote, like, a whole essay; feel free to skip to the bottom of the A/N if you’re not here for the meta discussion! 
> 
> My perspective when writing this story was basically this: I think it’s totally normal for a young adult who hasn’t really figured out their limits yet to drink a little too much to avoid their problems once in a while. It’s not the healthiest behavior, but people are people. Personally I have a very clear memory of a time I was having relationship stuff going on in college and I ended up too drunk to stand on the floor of my boyfriend’s dorm room hazily watching Arrested Development as I puked repeatedly into a trash can, but that was not a recurring incident and we’re still (much more happily now) together! I even draw inspiration for the way I write Aang from him sometimes. Life is nuanced and people have tough times that don’t define them as human beings. Also, Katara says some really hurtful things during the ATLA series, like when she tells Sokka that if he disagreed with her about going after Yon Rha then it was because he didn’t love their mother as much as she did in Southern Raiders, or when she steps completely out of line goading Toph about her parents in The Runaway. She’s a really caring and often empathetic person but she can be vicious and go for people’s weak spots when she’s upset. I think a big point of the whole series is that people are complex and multifaceted and can do great things in spite of past mistakes and their own personal weaknesses—In my opinion, Katara hasn’t done anything in this story that could be considered even close to irredeemable or that would make Aang too good for her. It’s possible that I’m just not portraying things as I intended, but I was kind of surprised by some of the strong sentiments that were expressed in comments. Either way your feedback really got me thinking about the way I'm portraying them/their feelings (and talking to my partner way too much about my intentions for this story), so thank you again if you took the time to comment!
> 
> Anyway, I have a feeling that this chapter will not be particularly well liked either, so I just wanted to mention that things get better next chapter, and then beyond that I have so. much. smut. written for this story, like at least six full length chapters worth (so far). If that’s your jam then hang in there!

Once her hangover wore off, Katara found herself with a lingering sense of guilt for the way their night had gone that pervaded her interactions with Aang for days. It started a strange dance between them; Katara was quiet and careful to avoid making plans to be alone with Aang, afraid of what he might say to her or how he might look at her once they found themselves in relative privacy again. She wanted to apologize again but wasn’t sure if bringing it up would make things worse, so she avoided him just enough to prevent them from having an opportunity to talk about it, unsure of what more to say. It hardly took him a day to notice, and she ended up being surprised by his response. He pushed back in a pleasantly unintrusive way. When she declined a nighttime trip to the beach by telling him that she had paperwork to do for the clinic, he showed up at her room with an armful of scrolls and a smile and worked quietly at her desk while she sat on her bed. Another time, she came home early from the clinic and found his staff in the doorway. She tried to sneak up to her room without seeking him out to say hello, but he must have been able to feel her once he came back inside himself. He had been grooming Appa in the yard and showed up at her bedroom door covered in white fur, genuine excitement on his face at seeing her home early. He had insisted that they get dinner together, which she agreed to more easily than she’d meant to given her misgivings about their last outing. However, they had gone somewhere simple and eaten a nice meal as friends, and she left the small restaurant feeling much better about their situation in general. 

Then on their way home, walking through Republic City in the dark, they’d spotted a group of firebenders dressed in all black setting fire to a small swords and weapons shop known to be owned by a nonbender. Her concerns about awkwardness between her and Aang were quickly forgotten in the chaos of a long night spent apprehending members of a small group of firebender insurrectionists. At that point, both of them were focused on determining whether their criminals were Ozai loyalists, bender supremacists, or something else, and Katara was too concerned with the number of groups out to hurt innocent civilians to think about the intricacies of her and Aang’s friendship.

They went back to normal after that, any hesitation surrounding their typical displays of affection gone once more along with the return of Toph’s teasing. If they were both home early enough, Aang would hug her goodnight before bed again each night; she went back to sitting next to him everywhere they went. The night after catching the small group of firebenders, exhausted after being up for nearly 36 hours, he gave her a tight squeeze in the hallway between their bedrooms, a routine gesture that he hadn’t made in nearly a week at that point. It was then that she realized how much she had missed him in the confusion, her heart seizing in her chest at his proximity, noticing, oddly, the way his scent filled the air around her and comforted her. The next morning, she woke up in the middle of a dream about the night he had spent in her room when she was drunk, and it took a cold, groggy shower to shake before she was ready to go to work.

A few nights later, Sokka and Aang came home from a council meeting before the sun was down, for once, and her brother burst through the front door yelling her name. Katara nearly had a heart attack on her way down the stairs before she found them both in perfect condition, grinning up at her in excitement. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to slow her heart rate down, she took a moment to scold him for scaring her before she asked what was going on.

“There’s a Water Tribe bar!” he exclaimed, “How did we not know there’s a Water Tribe bar?”

Katara looked to Aang, lost, hoping for an explanation. His excitement had shifted into an apologetic smile. “There’s a Water Tribe themed tavern nearby. Toph told us about it,” he offered, “Kanto is taking her tonight and she invited us to come.”

“She did?” Katara asked, raising an eyebrow as she considered the escalating situation between the odd group.

“Well,” Aang corrected himself, “Sokka might have invited us along for her.”

“Anyway,” Sokka said, nearly cutting off the end of Aang’s sentence, “She went home to get changed and pick Kanto up, so we’re meeting her there as soon as you’re ready to go.”

Flustered, Katara knew it would be pointless to argue with her brother when his mind was so set and resigned herself to a repeat of their last strange night with Toph and Kanto. This time, though, there would be a buffer in the form of her brother. She hesitated, then asked, “What about Suki?”

“She has to work late,” Sokka said glumly, his face falling in an instant. 

“They’re working on interrogating that group of firebenders,” Aang told her, “It looks like they might be linked to a bigger group, and Suki’s working on getting leads on who other members might be or where they meet.”

Before Katara could respond, Sokka, intent on ignoring such grim realities for the night, insisted that she hurry up and get changed so that they could leave. He prodded her with mentions of dishes she had not had since they’d last been home over a year ago until she was somewhat eager to go as well until she, too, mildly amused by the queasy look on Aang’s face at her brother’s descriptions, was excited to go and went upstairs to change. They left right away, her and Aang trailing after her brother as he led them down the streets of Republic City.

“I’m so excited!” Sokka exclaimed as they walked, “I hope they have seal jerky! It’s been  _ so _ long since I’ve had seal jerky.”

“Sokka, you don’t even like seal jerky,” Katara complained. “I can’t believe you completely refused to go to that vegetarian restaurant with us, but suddenly when there’s a bar from our culture, it’s a great idea for a group outing.”

“Hey, Aang doesn’t mind. He understands,” Sokka insisted, glaring at her, “Food is very important to me.”

Katara shot Aang an incredulous look as if to ask for backup. He smiled nervously and shrugged, studiously avoiding Sokka’s eyes. She was about to argue back again before Aang leaned in to her and quietly asked, “Everything alright? You seem upset with Sokka.”

It was true; she  _ had _ been mildly annoyed with Sokka ever since her argument with Toph in the bathroom of the restaurant nearly two weeks ago. Toph’s claim that Sokka had more tact than her had been eating away at her; never in her life had Sokka been the tactful one between them. The accusation had shaken her the longer she’d thought about it, and she felt unsteady and confused, unsure of herself in a way she wasn’t used to. Part of her denied Toph’s claim as she remained stubbornly insistent that her brother was in the wrong; it helped to blame him, to tell herself that Toph had it backwards, Sokka was the one handling the situation all wrong and she herself hadn’t hurt Aang. It was so easy to believe when he smiled at her every day like she could do no wrong in the world, and yet so hard when he made his love obvious through his actions and patience. Finally forcing a small smile, she said, “No, I’m okay. I feel bad for you! What are you going to eat?”

“I’ll be fine,” he laughed, “I think I’ll suffer less than Sokka would if he’d come with us last time, honestly.”

“See!” Sokka exclaimed. Katara’s eye twitched with the effort of ignoring him, but she felt immediately better when Aang shot her a grateful look. Things were much more peaceful the rest of the way to the bar. They reached their destination after a short walk, and Aang held the front door open for Katara and Sokka, allowing them to enter ahead of him before following behind.

“Hey, there you guys are!” Toph called once they were inside. She was easy to spot despite her size as one of the only people in the whole tavern dressed in all bright green. Right away, Sokka began leading them over to the large table at which she sat alone.

“Where’s Kanto?” Sokka bluntly asked as Aang and Katara greeted Toph. He reached immediately for a bowl of nuts in the center of the table as he claimed the seat next to their friend. Intrigued, Momo skittered down Aang’s arm when he sat, running across the wooden surface of the table to make for the nuts. 

“Relax,” she answered, smirking, “ _ Our _ boyfriend’s just getting us drinks.”

Sokka’s face turned bright red; Aang cleared his throat to cover his chuckle while Katara openly laughed. Before Sokka could come up with any sort of comeback, Kanto returned with a large pitcher filled with beer and a stack of glasses. Sokka’s face lit up immediately, greeting Kanto and the beverage he carried with equal enthusiasm. 

When Kanto began setting the cups out to pour them each a glass, Aang excused himself politely. “I’m just going to go grab some water,” he said.

“Sorry, I forgot you don’t drink,” Kanto said, briefly looking up from the pitcher as he worked in order to give Aang an apologetic smile. Katara considered this for a moment and decided it was at least kinder than Sokka had been lately. Thankfully, she took a glass from Kanto.

“No worries,” Aang told him. He glanced at Katara and found her looking at him over the rim of her glass; once their eyes met, she looked over at Kanto and back before shrugging minutely. Glad for this small indication that she was feeling a little bit better about Toph’s new relationship, Aang smiled back at her before setting off in the direction Kanto had come from.

As he was heading back from the bar with his glass of water, he heard his name called out and turned to see a girl his age waving to him. He didn’t recognize her; she had a plain face, brown hair up in a bun and big brown eyes, and he was almost sure he had never met her before, finding himself unable to match her face to any particular memory. As he approached the table, she smiled widely at him and greeted him by name again.

It wasn’t until he approached the table with confusion written all over his face that she laughed and told him her name. She was one of the Kyoshi Warriors, and Aang immediately felt stupid for not realizing; of course he wouldn’t recognize any of them without their face paint. When she invited him to sit and talk to her for a moment before her date arrived, he obliged. He felt indebted to the whole group after all they had done to help, both during the war and after. Now they were a developing police force for the growing city, and the work that they did in responding to unrest and apprehending violent extremists kept Republic City functioning and somewhat safe. 

He asked her about the firebenders that he and Katara had brought in, and she caught him up on their investigation in hushed tones, giving him more detail than Sokka was ever able to recall about Suki’s interrogations. As he listened, he couldn’t help but feel proud of the way Suki’s leadership skills had transformed over their years of friendship. He had grown to see her as much more than Sokka’s girlfriend; she was smart and fast, and she was brave in a way that he simply couldn’t match. She was perfect for her role organizing the nonbending police force in Republic City. There was something about the way that the other Kyoshi Warriors spoke of her and acted with her that had told him from the beginning that she was a great and selfless leader. The girls always looked downright passionate when they spoke of Suki, and tonight was no different. Aang himself was grateful for her hard work as well. After all, he was out with his friends that night while she worked tirelessly at trying to determine what group the firebenders had come from and was apparently pretty close to a breakthrough.

“So how are the rest of your friends?” she asked once she had finished telling him everything she knew about Suki’s investigation.

He nodded over towards the table they were sitting at and she glanced over briefly to see what he wasat gesturing to. “They’re actually here tonight,” he said, “Toph and her new boyfriend and Sokka and Katara. You should come say hi,” he added, beginning to stand up.

“No, that’s okay,” she said, looking at her watch, “My date should be here any minute. How is everyone? Suki has mentioned how busy Sokka has been working with the council lately, and we’ve been collaborating pretty closely with Toph lately, especially to find this Firebending group. How’s Katara?”

Something about the way she said that, the way her lips turned up at the corners almost imperceptibly with her question, made him instantly sure that Suki had been talking to the girls about the difficulties that he and Katara had had recently. He almost wanted to take back all of the nice things he had thought about her moments ago. “She’s doing great,” he said, though his mind lingered on the image of her on her knees in the bathroom leaning against the toilet after she’d been sick. He  _ loved _ her, and after six years of trying to shake his feelings for her, he wasn’t sure anything could change that. However, he’d noticed her slowly falling apart over the course of the past months and worried about her. She had been acting erratically and her mood had been pretty consistently low for a while. Something was bothering her that she wouldn’t talk to him or anyone else, as far as he could tell, about. 

Across from him, the Kyoshi Warrior smiled sadly. “Are you okay?” she asked despite his positive answer, the look on his face betraying more than his words.

“Yeah,” he reassured her, trying his best to smile. Desperate to get away from talking about his feelings, he began to ask her how she and the rest of her sisters had been. Thankfully, she followed his lead and dropped it, beginning to tell him about the grunt work that the group had been doing in the pursuit of the firebenders’ organization. Sokka’s planning was evident in their covert missions into town for intelligence gathering and, combined with the warriors’ slick social skills, actually resulted in a good payout of information. Suki was gathered with a few girls now going over some of the leads they had uncovered. 

She was just about to begin telling him about some of the groups they suspected when suddenly she looked over his shoulder, her face lighting up. “Oh! This is my date,” she said.

Aang stood and stepped back from the table, smiling at the young man walking towards him. His look of confusion and annoyance instantly shifted into shock once he recognized the man his date had been speaking with.

“Nice to meet you,” Aang greeted him with a shallow bow.

“Uh… you as well, Avatar Aang,” he replied, dropping into a much lower bow of respect.

Aang had already half extracted himself from the situation as she explained to her newly arrived date that they had run into each other and were just catching up. He gave them a brief goodbye, wishing them a good night before turning to head back to his friends. He hadn’t meant to get sidetracked for so long but always had a hard time saying no to a friend who wanted to catch up with him, both out of a genuine compassion for others and out of a fear of both others and himself perceiving him as self-important or egotistical. He scanned the room for his friends’ table and was surprised to see Katara’s seat empty, a half full glass in front of where she had been earlier. As he made his way over, he tried to catch Sokka’s eyes, in search of an explanation, but was not able to draw his attention away from his increasingly drunken conversation with Kanto. Toph sat with her arms crossed waiting for him.

“Hey, Twinkletoes,” she said as he approached the table.

“Hey,” he said, pulling out his seat, perching himself on the edge, leaning into the table. “Where did Katara go?”

“She got jealous,” Toph said, smirking.

Aang blinked blankly, waiting for her to continue. When she said nothing else, he prompted her, quietly enough that the other two seated at the table could not hear, “Of Kanto?”

Toph was quiet for a second before responding, “No, idiot. Who was that girl you were talking to? Katara said that she’s pretty.”

He paused, trying to parse out what she was saying. “One of the Kyoshi Warriors,” Aang said flatly. “What in the world are you talking about?”

Toph’s face was blank for a moment as she processed what he said and then she began to laugh, leaning forward as she cackled. He waited impatiently for her to finish, and when she did, she said, “That’s hilarious. You two need to sort this out—it’s beyond ridiculous at this point.”

“Toph, where did Katara go?” he tried again.

“She went home,” she responded, “She wouldn’t admit it but she was totally getting jealous; she was just sitting here watching you. She kept going between complaining about how pretty the girl you were talking to was and how much fun you looked like you were having,” she said, grinning, “And making rude comments about  _ my _ love life. After like fifteen minutes she said she didn’t feel well and left. It was very familiar, you know. You two are so dramatic; you’re made for each other.”

Aang surveyed her face as if he would be able to spot any sign of a lie there. While she waited for his response, she reached forward for the nearly empty pitcher of beer and refilled her glass. As she took a sip, he said, “Why would she be jealous?”

Toph snorted derisively. “Probably because she wasn’t the center of your attention for two seconds.” She must have been able to sense his confusion in his silence because she sighed before continuing, “You two are hopeless. Aang, she likes it when you pay attention to her and flirt with her. She gets upset when you do those things with other girls. What do you think is going on?”

“Stop,” he said, his face red, his head spinning with her words, “She doesn’t feel that way.”

“She feels  _ some _ way,” Toph insisted. “Listen, I’m already more involved than I want to be in this. You need to sort this out with her.”

Aang glanced over at Sokka and Kanto; they were leaning in towards each other and gesturing around wildly, speaking to one another just a little too loudly. He looked back at Toph and found her smirking.

“We’ll be fine,” she said, grinning.

Instead of taking the time to consider what she meant, he stood up, thanking her briefly for her help. It was a testament to Sokka’s newfound friendship that he didn’t notice Aang leave (nor his sister’s absence). Outside the bar, he felt relieved by the rush of cool, fresh air hitting his red face. They had headed out for the night as a group and he had expected them to return together as well, so he hadn’t brought his glider with him. He wanted the time to walk home anyway, to consider what Toph had told him, how much of it was true, and what he should tell Katara. It was hard to come up with answers to any of those questions when her own feelings were such a wild card. He felt for the pain and frustration she had clearly been going through recently and had learned to give her as much time and space as she needed to open up to him when she was upset. However, he couldn’t stand to watch it any longer and was determined to find out what was going on.

When he pushed the front door of their house open, he was discouraged to find the sitting room dark and empty, the same way they had left it earlier that evening. After searching the rest of the first floor and coming up empty, he held a small flame in his hand to illuminate the way as he headed upstairs. It was dark up there, too, and he guessed that if she were home, she’d be in her room, so that’s where he went.

“Katara?” he asked, knocking gently on her bedroom door. When he waited a moment and received no answer, he continued, “Are you in there?”

“I don’t feel well,” he heard faintly, muffled through her closed door. 

Sighing, he leaned against the wooden door, one hand resting on it as he thought. Eventually, he tried, “Can I come in?” She was silent for a long moment, so he reached for the handle and cracked the door slightly, just enough to be able to hear her more clearly, to be able to see the darkness that pervaded the room and the vague outline of her form lying on the bed. “I’m just worried about you,” he said.

“I’m fine,” she insisted into her pillow.

He nudged the door open wider, trying to get a better look at her. Her voice was too muffled for him to be able to gather much from it, her face too buried in her pillow to be readable, though he was able to tell from her body language that she was moping, shoulders hunched as she held her pillow against her face, blanket tugged over her head. “Can I come in and talk to you?” he asked again.

Finally, her head emerged from the blanket. It was too dark to read her expression, but he could tell that she had lifted her face from the pillow, her attention on him. “About what?” she asked.

“You,” he insisted. At her silence, he stepped into the room, leaving the door open a crack as he stepped closer to her bedside.

“Don’t,” she interrupted him when he moved to light the candles on her bedside table. He almost turned around before she sat up and scooted back against the pillows, patting the bed across from her.

Confused, he sat down on the edge of her bed. As he searched her face, his eyes began to adjust to the darkness. He could make out trails of tears running down her cheeks, shining in the dim moonlight that shone through her window. “Katara?” he asked cautiously, this time more concerned. Quickly, she reached up to wipe at her face with her blanket covered hand. Toph’s explanation had been so simple and reductive; he saw no sign of jealous rage in the distressed young woman before him. Something else was bothering her, and it hurt him to his core that he did not know what and could not help her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said, her sentiment undermined by the way she sniffled after she spoke. She must have been able to sense his disbelief and repeated, “I just don’t feel well tonight.”

He remembered the last time he had said that to his friends, back at the last event they had all attended in the Fire Nation. He, too, had primarily meant that he was going to sulk and didn’t want to do it in front of his friends, though he imagined their motivations were quite different. Never before had he seen her so upset and yet so unwilling to confide in him, and he had a difficult time bringing himself to leave her in that state. “Talk to me,” he finally tried, “Maybe I can help.”

“Aang,” she sighed, running a hand through her already tangled brown waves, “Please. You can’t fix everything.”

He felt his cheeks heat up at the poorly disguised bitterness behind her words, confused and somewhat hurt at the same time. Taking a deep breath, he said carefully, “I know—you’ve seen me learn that lesson plenty of times throughout the years. I just want to talk.”

She hesitated a long moment, her face half buried in her arms folded atop her knees. “You didn’t have to come home just because I left,” she said eventually.

“I didn’t leave because I thought I  _ had _ to. I was worried about you,” he repeated again, his eyebrows furrowed. 

“Well, it’s not your responsibility to be worried about me!” she exclaimed. Aang felt his breath catch in his chest at her outburst; she must have been able to see his expression through the darkness as well because her anger fell from her face immediately.”I’m sorry,” she choked out around a sob, burying her face back into her arms to hide her tears.

He froze for a minute as he took in her sudden mood shifts. For months, he had seen the tension and stress of their high profile positions and responsibilities building up in her, and though it had intensified in the last few weeks to the point that he had become worried, he was surprised at her volatility. As a rule, she did not snap at him. He had never seen her so overcome with something so undefined. Glancing around, he spotted a handkerchief on her bedside table and reached for it, handing it to her wordlessly. He gathered his thoughts as she blew her nose. “Katara,” he said carefully, “You’re one of my best friends. Of course I’m worried about you. It seems like you’ve been overwhelmed for a while now.”

She glared at him for a moment before hesitating, her expression shifting to one of mild sadness, her tear trails still wet on her cheeks. “We all have been,” she said, dabbing at her cheeks. 

“Is that all it is?” he asked skeptically. He knew that it couldn’t be; she tended to have a more emotional reaction to things than their headstrong friends, but this was different. While he was sure that Toph had exaggerated Katara’s jealousy that evening, he was equally sure that it wasn’t completely unrelated either. He just couldn’t figure out how to connect the pieces in any way that made sense to him, and he craved her input, upset with the way she had frozen him out about this after a friendship in which they discussed nearly everything.

“What did Toph say to you?” she asked.

“A lot that I didn’t believe,” he admitted, “She told me that you were upset and went home.”

“Did she tell you why I was upset?” she prodded. He could hear the raised eyebrow in her voice despite not being able to make out such details in the dim room. 

Nervously, he paused, turning his answer over in his head before saying, “She told me that you were jealous,” he said, trying to play it off as ridiculous, “Was she teasing you? You know that—“

“It wasn’t Toph teasing me,” she interrupted with a sigh. “I did feel weird; I probably wouldn’t have gone if you weren’t coming. Their whole situation is so weird and I just felt… uncomfortable having to sit there and watch it, especially all alone.”

“I’m confused,” Aang said slowly, trying to make out any hints hidden in the shadows of her face. He  _ did _ know about Katara’s feelings regarding Toph’s relationship but didn’t see how that was relevant.

“I didn’t want to sit there alone watching them all night,” she said again, “That’s all.”

He waited for more, but none came. “Toph said—“

“She said it all to me too,” Katara cut him off. He shifted anxiously where he sat on the edge of the bed as she paused before she added, “That’s not it. I just…. didn’t feel like being there.”

“Why are you so upset then?”

He watched her look down at her knees in response to his question. She was quiet for a moment before saying, “I’m not crying because you were flirting with some girl in a bar, Aang. I’m sorry if when I was drinking a couple weeks ago I got your hopes up, but that’s not it.”

His face grew hot as he processed what she had said. Katara was almost never dismissive or condescending to him and was usually particularly sensitive about his feelings for her. To hear her speak so coldly and patronizingly about the situation made his chest ache; the insulting implications of her words stung even as he knew deep down that she didn’t mean them. “Seriously?” he asked, his voice betraying his hurt, “Is that really why you think I’m here?”

She didn’t lift her head to look at him, burying her face in her arms again. Though he did not know why she was suffering, it was clear that she was. All he wanted to do was scoot forward and take her in his arms, even in his pain; he wasn’t the only one hurting. He counted out his breathing as he waited for her to respond. Finally, her voice muffled by the way she was folded in on herself, she said, “You’re the one who pushed. I’m fine, Aang.”

He stared at her for a moment as she sat curled up in the fetal position, shaking with tears as she rested her face down into her arms. He thought about all of the times he had seen her in pain, the way he had never left her crying before. For six years, they had been there for each other through everything. Now he felt like he was being iced out. Finally, he said softly, “Fine; I’ll go if you want me to.”

When she said nothing, her body simply rocking gently as it folded in on itself, he clenched his fists at his side as he stood. It took all of his willpower to leave the room without another word.

* * *

It was hardly an hour after he went back to his own bedroom to mope that there was a familiar knock on his bedroom door. Getting up to let her in hurt, even through his ever present excitement at seeing her. 

When he opened the door, he was surprised to find her without any trace of resentment in her face, red eyed and teary, her lip quivering as she gazed up at him desperately.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a small whimper. Then, her face crumpled as she began to sob, his chest aching at the sight of her looking so helpless before him. Instinctively, he pulled her in for a hug, and she responded readily, falling into his chest as her arms wound around his back.

“Shh… It’s okay,” he told her softly. While he held her close with one arm around her waist, he stroked the back of her head soothingly with his other. All of the details of their intimate embrace that would have normally short circuited his brain with desire were suddenly unimportant as he focused on providing her comfort. He ran his fingers over her hair until her shoulders stopped shaking, her sobs becoming quieter and less violent. 

“I’m so sorry,” she said again, hiccuping around a few remaining choked sobs. “I didn’t mean it.”

“Katara,” he said soothingly, “ _ It’s okay. _ I know that you didn’t.” His nails ran comfortingly over the small of her back until she relaxed further against him, still crying into his robes, most of her words unintelligible. “Try to calm down,” he told her, “Do you want to talk?”

She nodded into his chest. “I’m sorry,” she said a third time, then began to cry again. “I don’t want to hurt you, you’re my best friend, I love you,” she choked out, her words cut off periodically by her sobs.

“Shh,” he murmured, “I’m not upset with you, I promise. I’m just really worried. You seem like you’ve been distracted by something lately, and you’re not yourself.”

That started her tears again. “I feel like… I feel like there’s no way for us to be happy,” she cried, “Like no matter how hard we work or how many things we change there are just too many obstacles in the way. There’s always something.”

“Hey, hey,” he shushed her gently, continuing to stroke the back of her head. Her hair was so soft beneath his hand even as her head shook with her sobs. “Katara, it’s going to be okay. If you really feel that way, we can try to figure something out for you to do differently.”

She shook her head, her face still buried against him, her tears beginning to soak through his tunic. “I don’t know if we can,” she insisted.

“Talk to me,” he murmured, combing his fingers gently through her soft waves. “Tell me what’s wrong. What’s making you feel that way?”

“Everything,” she said, finally pulling back enough to look at him, her blue eyes shining with tears. Her hands rested on his shoulders, holding him close as she gripped him tightly.

“I know it’s been exhausting lately,” he told her, resting his hands on her back, focusing on her eyes, “All of the riots and gang violence and—“

“No,” she said, frustrated, “Well, yes, that too, but not just that. I feel so… unfulfilled.”

His face fell at the thought that she was unhappy here; he had always thought she enjoyed her career and her life here. “At the clinic?” he asked curiously. She had a position of leadership at the clinic and tended to throw herself into her work, though she had been spending less time there recently. In fact, he had been somewhat surprised to find that she actually was home to respond to Sokka’s call as they came in the front door that night. 

“Yes, but with  _ everything _ . I feel so useless. They hardly need me at the clinic anymore, and I feel like it’s been draining to devote myself so wholly to it anyway,” she told him, looking down at his chest to avoid his eyes.

“You’re not a healer,” he said in understanding, smiling helplessly as he considered this aspect of her personality, “You’re a fighter.”

“Exactly!” she exclaimed, looking back up at him, “I want to do something, I want to… I don’t know.”

“Go to meetings with old rich men all day like me and Sokka?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s not all you do, Aang,” she said, “You play a role in how this city is organized and governed; you’re important to the lives of everyday people. I know that the clinic was my idea, but it hasn’t needed me for a while now. I want to contribute meaningfully like that, I want to  _ matter _ .”

“Katara,” he said softly, “Of course you matter.”

“I don’t just mean to you,” she said, then immediately looked apologetic, tears still shining in her eyes. “Our friendship and relationship are really important to me, Aang, but I want to make an actual difference.”

“I understand,” he replied, his silver eyes shifting as they searched her own. “If it means anything, I’m sure the clinic has saved countless lives since it opened. I don’t know if the healers would have gotten together to serve the whole community without you. I think that matters.”

“It does, but I feel stuck now. I don’t know where to go from here,” she said.

He was quiet for a long enough moment that she was beginning to get nervous from the silent seriousness in his face, but reassured her by saying, “You can do anything in the world you want. You’re incredibly powerful and talented.”

Her face turned red in an instant, surprised by his compliment, particularly when it left his mouth is a low, husky voice. “Thank you,” she murmured, her eyes focused on his.

“I’ll support you no matter what,” he told her, thinking with a knot in his stomach suddenly of the vast difference between them and the South Pole. It was a long flight and a much longer ship ride, so she hadn’t been home to visit often since they’d moved there as a group. He wondered if she would be happier there, if she was considering it too. Finally, forcing a smile, he told her, “You should do whatever you think will make you happy.”

She pulled him in for another hug, burying her face against his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her as well instinctively. It felt so natural to hold her when she melted against him like that; they had the perfect height distance for him to rest his chin on top of her head. “Thank you,” she said again, her voice slightly muffled against his tunic. She adjusted her head, turning to face his neck so that he could hear her more clearly. When she spoke, her hot breath hit his neck. “For everything, for always being there for me. I know it’s… not always exactly easy.”

He paused, caressing her upper back comfortingly as he thought. He wanted to tell her that she was wrong; it was the easiest thing in the world for him. It had hurt for a while after the war, but it had been years since she’d made it clear that she wasn’t interested, at least not then. While he couldn’t help loving her and wanting her, his absurdly romanticized dreams of their future together had been left in the past. She was his best friend, the one person in the world he could count on to never give up on him, and he would always want to be there for her purely for the sake of her happiness. It was too late to say any of that then, though, so instead he told her, “Of course, Katara. I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else.”

Rather than causing her to tense up, she sighed heavily against him until her breath tickled his neck. Finally, she pulled away, gazing up at him once more. “I think I should go to bed,” she said, “I feel like I have a lot to think about. Do you think maybe tomorrow…”

“I want to hear more tomorrow,” he said before she could gather the courage to ask, his hands finally dropping from her back. She smiled up at him despite the dried tear trails on her cheeks.

After looking into his eyes for a moment, she threw her arms around him in a tight bear hug. After his initial surprise, he recovered quickly and squeezed her back. She was quiet for a moment as she hugged him, but he felt her appreciation for him through her touch. He hadn’t been looking for it, but it was nice to know that she saw everything that he did for her. As she pulled away once again, she glanced back up to his eyes and smiled softly. She looked like she was trying to figure out what to say for a long moment, and he waited patiently for her to sort out her thoughts. Finally, still smiling up at him, she simply said quietly, “Tomorrow, then.”

She gave him another quick squeeze before pulling apart from him fully, letting her arms slide from around him. “Good night, Katara,” he told her, his voice low, and he watched in wonder as a dark flush spread over her cheekbones.

“Good night,” she answered with a small smile, then turned to head back to her bedroom. He leaned against the doorway watching her, and he didn’t snap out of his haze until after the door had shut behind her. As he returned to his bed, the only thing he was sure of was that he would not be able to sleep well that night.


	6. Chapter 6

After a restless night, Aang rose out of bed as the sun climbed into the sky, getting dressed and slipping out the front door for his morning meditation long before any of his friends had woken, as usual. Today, he wasn’t in any mood to have his meditation interrupted and took off on his glider, seeking somewhere secluded. He soared towards the mountains on the outer edges of the city and easily located an isolated, sturdy ledge on the mountainside. Basking in the sunlight, folded into the lotus position beneath its warm rays, he felt the tension that had congested his muscles all night long begin to subside. It was such a relief to empty his mind after the places it had gone the night before as he tossed and turned in bed, and once enough time had passed that the sun was shining brightly directly overhead, he felt somewhat ready to go back and talk to Katara.

He flew directly there, eager to see her again while his mind was still clear. Reaching his destination in moments, he snapped his glider shut and headed through the front door. No one was in the living room, so he made his way to the kitchen, sure that he would at least find Sokka there. Sure enough, he sat at the kitchen table across from Suki, talking over their breakfast. They both looked up when he showed up in the doorway.

“Good morning,” Sokka greeted him uneasily, shooting him an odd look.

“Hi,” Aang replied, “Where’s Katara?”

“I was just about to ask you that,” Sokka replied as Suki hid her grin behind her cup of tea, “I thought she was with you—she wasn’t here when I woke up.”

Aang froze, holding onto the doorway as he surveyed the scene. They’d finished eating already and likely hadn’t woken up much later than he had. “Her bedroom’s empty?”

“Yeah,” Sokka confirmed, narrowing his eyes at Aang. “She seemed really upset last night. What did you do to her?”

“Sokka!” Suki scolded, frowning at him as she set her tea down. “Stay out of it.”

Aang shook his head as Sokka scowled at him. “I’m going to go look for her,” he said, turning back around. Thankfully, Suki’s opinion seemed to matter to Sokka just as much as Katara’s did to him, and there was no sarcastic comment called out from behind as he left their shared home. Outside, he took off once more, not even pausing to consider his destination before heading towards the beach. The cool sea breeze was bracing against his skin, fluttering through his thin robes as he glided along the coastline. Merchants and laborers loading cargo into ships crowded the docks, working through the morning, but hardly anyone else was on the beach. He didn’t have to go far before the shore was empty, but he kept drifting along, searching below as he went. After almost fifteen minutes, he was flying past the mountain ranges bordering the city and nearly turned around before he spotted her huddled figure near a small embayment in the distance. He descended, landing on the rocky sand about ten feet from her. As he shut his glider, he walked towards her slowly, giving her time to react to his presence. However, she stayed still, staring out at the water even as he sat next to her.

“Hi,” he said softly, looking over at her profile. Her dark brown hair flew wildly in the sea breeze, whipping against her face as she watched the waves lap against the shore. She had her legs folded up against her chest, her arms curled around them, as she always sat when she was particularly upset. Examining her more closely in her silence, he noticed the wrinkles on her clothes, dark bags under her eyes, and the goosebumps lining her forearms as they rested against her shins. “How long have you been out here?”

“Since early this morning,” she said finally, turning to give him a small smile. “I just needed somewhere private to think.”

He wished he had anticipated how cold sitting on the beach for hours would have made her and brought something along with him for her to put on; as it was, he held his hand out, lighting a small flame in his palm to provide her with some warmth. She held her hands out over it thankfully. “Is it okay that I’m here?” he asked.

Her head snapped up as she looked at him suddenly, her eyebrows furrowed. “Of course it is,” she said, “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I assumed that by ‘private’ you meant that you didn’t want to see me,” he explained sheepishly, his cheeks flushing slightly when she smiled reassuringly at him.

“I didn’t want to be interrogated by Sokka,” she said, looking back out towards the water. “But you didn’t have to come, either.”

He enlarged the flame in his hand when she lowered her palms from the fire, offering her more heat. “I got scared when Sokka told me he hadn’t seen you all morning. Of course I came looking for you.”

Her eyes closed, her hair blowing against her closed eyelids. Carefully, he let the fire shrink so that her hair did not get caught in the flames. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m fine,” she said, resting her chin atop her knees, not opening her eyes.

“You don’t seem that fine,” he replied gently. When she didn’t say anything in response, he added, “I don’t really feel fine either. I’m really worried about you, Katara.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice just as gut-wrenchingly sad as it had been each time she’d apologized to him the night before.

“There’s nothing for you to be sorry for,” he told her. Her back rose heavily as she took a deep breath. “Talk to me,” he pleaded. 

Her eyes opened, finally, the same color as the ocean they stared out at, shimmering with moisture. “I don’t know what I want,” she said, her voice thick with tears.

“That’s okay,” he said soothingly, letting the flame in his palm extinguish now that her goosebumps had gone down. “Do you want to talk to me about it now?”

She laughed sardonically, reaching up to dab at her eyes with the back of her hand before her tears could fall. “Aang, I can’t talk  _ to _ you about my feelings  _ for _ you,” she protested.

That made him hesitate; though he knew she had been set off the day before when she’d gotten a little jealous, he had not expected to be at the center of her inner turmoil. He had expected her to discuss her work at the clinic again or maybe mention the ever present rebellions they were constantly tamping down. Steeling himself for whatever she had to say, he gave her a smile that exuded false confidence. “Why not?” he asked, pressing forward even as she shot him a strange look, “I think it’ll really help us both. Help me try to understand how you’re feeling.”

Turning to stare back out at the ocean, she sighed heavily. “It‘s  _ so _ complicated,” she said vaguely, folding back into herself, arms around her legs and chin on her knees. He scooted closer and, when she didn’t move away, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, both for comfort and warmth.

“Tell me what you mean,” he murmured. 

“How I feel,” she said, closing her eyes again as another strong breeze picked up. “I love you, Aang, so much, but I’m not sure that it’s the same way you love me. I love you like family,” she added, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ears to reveal the blush on her cheeks, opening her eyes once her waves were no longer whipping across her face, “But definitely  _ not  _ the way I love Sokka. It’s just… I don’t know if I have-been-in-love-with-you-since-we-were-kids love you.”

“Katara,” he said gently, sliding his hand down her upper arm to pull her closer. She kept her gaze focused on the water lapping at the shore in front of them. “I know that. I didn’t ask you about how you felt when you were fourteen,” he added, caressing her arm in an effort to warm her up. Her back rose sharply beneath his arm with her intake of breath.

“I think it’s important,” she asserted once she recovered, continuing to avoid his eyes. “There’s certain things that you’re sure that you want and I still don’t know if I want those same things.”

“I’m not sure I follow,” he replied. There  _ were _ certain things he was sure he wanted, like helping to build the future of Republic City or constructing an Air Temple on the nearby uninhabited island, but she had already committed to helping him with those things without him even asking. Beyond that, the only thing he was sure that he wanted was her.

“Aang,” she said with a sigh, “You’re  _ committed _ . You want to spend the rest of our lives together and you want… you want me to have a bunch of your little airbenders, and I  _ really _ don’t know if that’s what I want to do! We’re still so young and—”

“Whoa,” he interrupted, shifting to sit directly in front of her so that she had to look at him. Her eyes looked frantic, but he felt lost, as if she had somehow just skipped a massive chunk of their conversation. “Katara, slow down. What in the world are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about what it would really mean for us to be together,” she said, imploring him to understand. Now that she was looking into his eyes once again, she seemed to calm down, her anxiety fading to sadness. “You need to have children—everyone keeps talking about it.”

“I know they do,” he said, groaning at her mention of the way his private life had become the subject of political discussion since his coming of age. Everyone from members of the White Lotus to King Kuei to Zuko had tried to bring it up with him since his 16th birthday two years ago in a series of joking comments that he did not consider to be remotely funny, but he had no interest in discussing the issue with any of them. His annoyance at her assumption almost overtook the shock he felt at the premise of her statement.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d caught on,” she admitted, her cheeks flushing, “I feel like every time someone brings it up, you change the subject.”

“I do,” he agreed. When she looked confused, he explained further, “I don’t think it’s any of their business. None of them understand the situation. The Air Nomads are gone; they want me to try to resurrect my culture by rearranging my life and trying absurd things like... practically turning the Acolytes into a harem,” he said, shuddering, and when she turned a much deeper shade of red, he added, “And yes, I got that too—but doing that wouldn’t bring back my people. To make a child that way, conceived out of utility instead of love, it’s so against the spirit of Airbender culture. I’m not sure an Airbender could even be conceived that way, but I know it wouldn’t revive anything. It would be creating something new and different based on beliefs that are not mine or my people’s.”

“Aang, why didn’t you tell me that you felt that way sooner?” she asked after a moment, tears shining in her eyes again at his emotional speech.

“You never brought it up,” he said, watching her face closely, “And I haven’t spent much time thinking about it—I didn’t think that you did, either.”

She was silent, looking down at the sand as she reached up once again to rub the wetness from her eyes. “I don’t know if I want  _ any _ kids,” she said eventually.

Though he was somewhat surprised by that, he still didn’t understand the significance of it. “Katara, why are you telling me that?”

“Because you still need to have at least one airbender,” she insisted, her eyes darkening with frustration, “Aang, you know what I’m talking about; if you don’t have any airbender children then the next time the Avatar cycle—”

“Have you been talking about this with everyone?” he asked her, narrowing his eyes. When she looked embarrassed, he groaned again, planting his hands in the sand behind him as he leaned back to look at the sky. “I don’t think it matters—I was talking to Iroh about this last time we were in Ba Sing Se. There’s never been an Avatar who was a direct descendent of another Avatar like that; I’m really not so sure I can just have Airbenders who have Airbenders of their own and then one of my great grandchildren will be the next Airbender Avatar. I have no idea what’s going to happen when the time comes, but aside from trying to keep the memories and ideologies I was raised with alive, I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it,” he finished, sitting back up straight to look at her. Her blue eyes were shimmering as they fixated on him.

“Do you really think that’s true?” she asked quietly.

“Yes,” he said firmly, “I really do.” Her eyes glanced down to the sand and she remained silent, so he continued, somewhat hesitantly, “I’ll admit that I’ve had a daydream or two about what our family could look like someday, but… deciding not to have children wouldn’t be a major sacrifice for me. Not like giving up on you would be,” he admitted, watching her cheeks redden with each word he spoke. 

“That’s what I’m talking about,” she said through her embarrassment, “I feel like you have these big, romantic fantasies about us being together, but our lives are really hectic. It might not always be so easy for us to just… be in the same place all the time, working on the same things.”

“Are you having second thoughts about staying here?” he asked, leaning in towards her in concern. She glanced up to look at his face, and her blush deepened further when she spotted his expression, his eyebrows furrowed with worry.

“No, but we can’t stay here  _ forever _ . You have to travel a lot, and I know Sokka and Suki and I usually come with you, but the more involved they get here, the more chaotic things get every time we leave. And Aang, I… I’ve been thinking that I want to go back home for a while at some point,” she said, closing her eyes to avoid seeing the way she thought her words would hurt him, “I maybe want to help with the reconstruction efforts and see my dad.”

“I can go with you,” he suggested immediately.

“No,” she said, her eyes opening again to reveal the tears brimming there, “You can’t just come stay down there and ignore your duty to the world. What about Republic City, what about everywhere else that needs your help?”

They both knew she was right, and after they sat contemplating for a moment, he asked softly, “How long is ‘a while’?”

“I don’t know,” she said honestly, “I haven’t been back in a long time. Maybe a few months. Maybe years.”

Taking a deep breath, Aang held in his first thought, that he couldn’t do any of this without her. For a second, he tried to imagine his life alone in the developing city and found himself completely unable to do so. “I see what you mean by complicated,” he agreed finally. That got her to crack a small smile.

“It’s just… compromise is so important to relationships, but you aren’t really in a position where you can compromise much about your life, and I have things I want to do, too—I really don’t know that I want to just be The Avatar’s Wife for the rest of my life,” she said, and when he began to open his mouth, she cut him off to add, “And I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be  _ anything _ if I’m going into the situation knowing that I’m not interested in that when you’re certain it’s what you want.”

“I was going to say that that’s not what I want either,” he told her gently, scooting closer until they were only inches apart. “When have we been anything less than partners? I wouldn’t want things to be any different,” when she still looked downcast and uncertain, he continued, “I’m in love with my Waterbending Sifu, my incredibly smart, older best friend, the one person whose advice and opinions I will  _ always _ listen to. I don’t want anything about you to change, Katara.”

Finally, her tears came full force, and he held his arms out as she crumpled forward into his chest, holding her tightly against him. As she cried into his neck, he rubbed her back soothingly, nuzzling into the top of her head. He  _ hated _ to see her cry so much and to have it be about him only made his stomach clench more intensely. He held her until her tears soaked through his tunic, until her shaking back began to still beneath his palm. “I’m afraid,” she whimpered against his chest, “I don’t want either of us to get hurt; I’m afraid that something will happen and everything will change. I don’t want us to change.”

“I think it could be nice if some things changed,” he asserted, scratching her back lightly through the fabric of her top. “For instance, I think it would be  _ incredible _ if you didn’t only want to kiss me when you were drunk,” he teased.

He felt her smile against him, and his stomach began to untwist. “I  _ don’t _ ,” she corrected, “That’s just the only time I’m not able to control myself.”

Sighing, he moved his nails down her back, scratching lower as she arched against him. She felt so amazing in his arms, warm and soft and clinging to him. With his face buried in her hair, he was able to smell her shampoo mixed with the scent of the sea that always lingered on her, and his heart pounded in his chest when he inhaled deeply. She wanted to kiss him. That was somewhere to start. “I don’t know about years, but I could come for a while,” he said into her hair, “Definitely at least a few months, barring any emergencies. I know I’m not the best waterbender in the world, but I think I could help out.”

That made her giggle through her tears, and then she sat up, letting his arms fall from around her. She caught his hands in her own, curiously inspecting the way they fit against hers. Her thumb slid lovingly over the back of his hand and caused him to shiver. She looked up at him with a smirk, which faded into an affectionate smile when she saw the way he was blushing. “You make it all sound so easy,” she murmured.

“You make it all sound so difficult,” he countered, “Maybe you think I’m just being a romantic, but being with you has never been hard.”

Katara leaned her head forward onto his shoulder to hide her darkening flush, her hair falling in a curtain around her face. Her hands squeezed his; his heart throbbed in his chest. Eventually, she said again, quietly, “I don’t know what I want.”

“Well,” he pushed, smiling, “So far you’ve said that you want to kiss me.”

Instead of glaring at him for his ill-timed joke as he’d expected, she groaned in frustration into his robes. “I want to do  _ a lot _ more than that. I just… I don’t know.”

She was silent, continuing to touch his hands. Somewhat frustrated by her indecision, he tried to explain himself, “Katara, the Water Tribes might have a lot of tradition governing the way love is expressed in family and marriage, but Air Nomads didn’t really impose rules on the way that people loved each other in that way. If we had any concept that came close to family, it would be valuing your loved ones and the time you have to spend together on this earth. Love was considered to be the greatest and simplest joy in life, almost sacred to my people. It just goes against the beliefs I grew up with to set that aside because of what other people expect or think.” 

Staring at the dunes behind her as she leaned into him, he waited calmly for her to respond. She was so still in his arms that he was worried he had upset her until she finally sat up to look at him, her big blue eyes glistening up at him. “That’s beautiful,” she said gently, “Maybe you’re right.”

“I’m right?” he asked, raising his eyebrows as he leaned towards her slightly. Her stunning gaze was focused intently on him, her warm hands entwined with his own between them. 

“I haven’t really looked at it that way,” she said, smiling as she watched him, “Aang, you just very politely and eloquently told me that I’m wasting both of our time.”

Flustered by her oversimplification, he felt his face heat up. “That really wasn’t what I meant,” he insisted.

She pursed her lips as she surveyed his embarrassed expression then smiled as she scooted closer, until she was practically in his lap; he flushed even darker at her proximity. “Aang,” she purred, leaning in, “I said you were  _ right _ . When the war first ended, I had a really hard time trying to make sense of how I felt about you; I know we were both really young, but you were just a child. The more we’ve grown up, the more  _ you’ve _ grown up, the more it’s started to make sense and almost feel… inevitable. I’ve been making myself sick trying to fight it because I hate all of the expectations of wives in the Water Tribes, but you’re right. It doesn’t make sense, and I don’t want to anymore.”

“Katara,” he breathed in wonderment, giving her hands a delicate squeeze. 

“I still feel nervous,” she said quickly, “It’s just, there’s also… there’s no ‘going slow’; we already know each other so intimately, at least emotionally. It almost feels like diving in head first, but I guess we’ve been dancing around this for a while,” she admitted with a bashful grin.

“We can go as slow as you want,” he reassured her, marveling over her decision to give it a try at all—it seemed both sudden and obvious at once. She flushed abashedly, so to lighten the mood, he added, “Though it didn’t seem like you wanted to go slow that night you got drunk…”

“Aang!” she cried, her cheeks flushing even deeper as she tugged her hands from his in order to push him playfully, “We just kissed.”

“You moaned,” he said proudly, watching her grow more flustered, and then admitted, “I enjoyed myself too—it was so hard to stop you.”

He immediately regretted his choice of words when she smirked at him. “Oh,  _ that _ I remember.”

“You really caught me off guard,” he said in defense of himself, blushing again in his embarrassment.

“So… you wouldn’t have  _ enjoyed yourself _ as much if it wasn’t a surprise?” 

He felt his face grow hotter, and she laughed in response to his facial expression, beginning to stand up instead of waiting for his reply. Thankful for the interruption, he mirrored her movements, grabbing his glider from the sand beside them as he stood. She stretched once they were upright, extending her arms into the air as she arched her back. The sight of her lean form before him knocked his breath away; he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her, but he wasn’t exactly sure that she would appreciate that. Flirting, even that which dipped into sexual territory at times, was familiar and safe between them; kissing was a much more direct act and still felt forbidden. Instead, he shot her a genuine lopsided smile. “I’m glad you’re feeling better,” he said.

“I’m  _ really _ glad you came and talked to me,” she said as she finished stretching, her cheeks a lovely shade of pink. “Let’s go back home. I think I want to take a nice, hot bath.”

“Oh, we’re going to take a bath together?” he joked, waggling his eyebrows at her dramatically as he opened his glider. Sighing despite the grin on her face, she stepped closer, her arms winding around his torso as she readied herself for his takeoff.

“I know I said we wouldn’t be able to go slow,” she told him, her voice soft in their close proximity, “But that really wasn’t  _ quite _ what I meant.”

He turned to wink at her, but she surprised him by pulling him in for a kiss once his head was turned. Despite the chill of the morning air, her lips were so warm and gentle against his own. His muscles, tense as they prepared for flight, melted when she leaned into him, her arms around his back pulling him closer. She kissed him for a long moment before pulling away, her eyes dark, pupils dilated.

“Maybe we can try that later on,” she offered teasingly.

“Katara…” he said reverently, his hand frozen on her waist, where he’d been holding her in preparation for their ascent. She gazed up at him, rays of the morning sun twinkling in her deep blue eyes. Her body felt different in his arms, pliant and soft in places she’d always been tense, touching him in subtle ways she’d always carefully avoided, from their hips bumping together to the tenderness of her hands caressing his back.

“Can I have another one?” she asked innocently, her voice a demure murmur as she peered up at him through her eyelashes.

All too happy to comply, he snapped his glider shut once again and turned to face her, their familiar embrace shifting into something new and experimental. She moved her arms from around his stomach to around his neck, sliding her fingertips over the shaved back of his head, his knees going weak with the sensation. As he wound his arms around her waist, marveling over its delicateness, she pulled him back down for another kiss. This time, her tongue brushed coyly against his lips, and he felt his heart stop as he parted them, felt his mind go completely blank as her tongue brushed tenderly against his own. She pulled away again before long, smiling up at him sweetly. 

“That was better,” she murmured, moving one hand to cup his cheek, admiring the way his jawline felt beneath her touch. Closing his eyes, he leaned into her palm, taking in the warmth and love in her caress. Katara had always had a special softness to her words and her touches when it came to him, but never had he felt her overwhelming adoration and devotion quite so close to the surface. Something about the way her fingertips moved over his jawline, his cheekbone, and his neck, the way she held him, felt the same to him as the words “I love you” leaving her mouth. He never wanted to leave her arms. When he opened his eyes once more, he looked into her own, dark blue and shining up at him. Finally, with a small smile, she said, “Let’s go home.”

* * *

  
  


As they came in through the front door, Aang spotted Sokka and Suki watching them from their spot huddled together on the sofa.

“Oh, gross,” Sokka said once he spotted their entwined hands, his face twisting as if he had eaten something sour. 

Katara looked at him threateningly, her hand leaving Aang’s to reach instinctively for her waterskin, intent on sending a light water whip his way in retaliation. Sokka just glared at them and stood up, tugging a grinning Suki behind him as he fled the room. “Such a hypocrite!” Katara exclaimed, turning to him, “We  _ just _ walked in the door to them practically sitting in each other’s laps.”

“He’ll get used to it,” Aang reassured her, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her closer, marveling at the new casualness of the gesture. Suddenly, her recent increasingly tense squabbles with her brother seemed like a much less pressing issue than it had the day before. He couldn’t imagine that Sokka would have a problem with their relationship and was almost positive that Katara would ease up on her dislike of Kanto once Toph stopped pushing and teasing her about Aang’s feelings for her.

“He better,” she agreed, calmed by his touch as she leaned into his embrace, then hesitated briefly before leaning up to kiss him softly. She joked, “I’m going to go take a bath  _ alone _ , but maybe tonight we can… try to spend some time together, after Sokka and Suki go to bed. Like last time, minus drinking an entire bottle of wine.”

He grinned helplessly at her, near euphoric at the feeling of her hands cupping his jaw so affectionately. As he watched her, he noticed her lips glistening from their kiss, and his stomach twisted in an oddly pleasant way. She wanted him in her bedroom that night. He had no idea what that would entail and didn’t want to start setting expectations; he’d be elated to just cuddle her and talk to her. It was so just thrilling to be with her as a lover instead of a friend, as if all of their words and touches were imbued with new meaning that he had spent so long trying to hold back. Gently, he ran his hand over her lower back, watching her cheeks flush with pleasure. “That sounds  _ incredible _ ,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose. “I’ll be looking forward to it all day.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick warning that this is the first chapter that earns this story its Explicit rating—if you’re not here for that then the rest of this fic might not be for you

That night, Aang made a show of turning in early, telling everyone that he was exhausted as he hadn’t slept well the night before. While the last part wasn’t a lie, he felt _far_ from exhausted; if anything, he felt exhilarated all day, elated about their conversation that morning, excited to spend the night with Katara in whatever way she wanted. Back in his room, he sat and listened, waiting for the others to go to bed as well. He heard Katara go into her bedroom and shut the door behind her not long after, but Sokka and Suki lingered around the house. It seemed to take forever before the two of them, huddled together and giggling, pushed their way into Sokka’s room. When he put his feet to the ground, he could feel their increased heart rates through the tile floor, confirming his suspicion that they had been drinking. That, combined with their proximity, told Aang that he wouldn’t have to worry too much about either of them figuring out that he was in Katara’s room. A few minutes after their bedroom door shut, he slipped out into the hallway and across to her door. It was ajar just slightly then, and he could tell that she had lit candles inside by the gently flickering light that emerged from the small crack. Quietly, he rapped a single knuckle against the wooden door.

“Katara?” he called softly, “Can I come in?

“Of course,” she responded faintly. Nimbly, he slid inside and was about to turn to shut the door behind him before Sokka or Suki could reemerge when he spotted her. Candles lined the room everywhere he looked; she was still working her way around the room, and only half were lit. She stood in front of the partially open window across from the foot of her bed, lighting an array of tealights atop her dresser with a match in her hand. Her back was to him, her long, shiny brown waves cascading down her back. Beneath the ends of her hair, her back was bare, leading down to a pair of tiny pale blue silk panties. The sight stopped him in his tracks, his face heating up as he stared at her lean form, the curves of her hips, and the soft, tan skin of her thighs. When he was silent, she glanced over her shoulder at him, grinning widely when she spotted his blush, mirth in her big blue eyes. “Aang, close the door,” she teased, then after considering for a second added, “And your mouth.”

Though he hadn’t _actually_ been slack-jawed at the view, he knew that his amazement was written all over his face; he could feel the heat radiating from his cheeks. As he carefully pushed the door shut behind him, he stepped forward, lighting the rest of the candles easily. 

She waved the match to put it out, turning to face him, still smiling. “Thanks,” she said, “That would’ve taken a while.”

Now that she was directly in front of him, he was able to see that she wasn’t wearing her regular wraps on top, either. Her bra, too, was delicate and revealing, made of the same light blue shade of lace and silk, just barely cupping her breasts and held up with ribbon-thin straps. Her curves were highlighted by the glow of the candles behind her, and the effect was devastating. When she inched even closer, he looked up to her face, stunned by the depth of desire reflected in her eyes.

“You look so gorgeous,” he told her, his voice thick with reverence. Blushing at his compliment, she moved forward until her skin was pressed against the material of his robes, her arms finding their way easily around his shoulders. He wound his own arms around her waist, his cheeks flushing a shade darker as his hands met her bare back. While embracing her was not new to him, the feeling of so much of her smooth, warm skin beneath his fingertips definitely was. He inhaled deeply against her, his mind reeling with the intimacy of her half-naked form pressed against his own. Particularly, he enjoyed the way the curves of her breasts met his chest as she breathed, unrestrained by her typical attire. The longer they held one another, the more familiar she started to feel in his arms. While it was unlike any hug they had shared in the past, the way she felt in his arms had not changed, from her delicate, intoxicating scent to the pace of her breathing. As he recovered from his initial surprise, he asked her gently, “Katara… I definitely don’t mean to complain, but what…?”

“I _told_ you that I usually sleep in my underwear,” she reminded him cheekily, tilting her head up to kiss the line of his jaw. “Is this okay?” she purred against him.

“More than okay,” he reassured her, sliding his hands over the smooth skin of her back, still amazed by how soft and delicate she felt beneath his touch. In response, she shivered against him, and he reveled in her reaction to his touch. He had thought of teasing her about the candles at first but couldn’t bring himself to make a joke with her in his arms like that. “I thought maybe I was dreaming for a minute when I saw you.”

Katara sighed at his cheesy line, her warm breath hitting his neck. “You’ve seen me in my wraps hundreds of times,” she pointed out, “This isn’t that different.”

“It’s pretty different,” Aang said, trying not to think of the way her round breasts looked, dark golden in the glow of the candlelight, _much_ more skin exposed than her bindings had ever revealed. “Where did you get this, anyway?”

“Zuko’s seamstresses,” she explained in a soft whisper, “This is what women wear in the Fire Nation. It’s very pretty but not so practical. I usually only wear this under formal gowns.”

“Or to tease me until I lose my mind,” he added, sighing softly as she kissed a sensitive spot just under his earlobe. 

“I’m not just teasing you,” she murmured against his skin before nibbling lightly at his neck. 

He groaned, keeping his hands firmly on the small of her back as her own nails raked sensually over his shoulder blades. He felt like it was boiling in the room, even with the cool night air rushing in the window; her lips left a trail of intoxicating heat wherever they went. “I didn’t think that was what you meant when you asked me to come tonight,” he admitted as he began to rub her back gingerly. She paused against him at his words, so he quickly added, “ _Not_ that I’m upset at all—just… surprised.” 

She pulled back in his arms, cheeks pink as she looked at him for the first time since embracing him, her concern written all over her face. “We don’t have to—”

“No,” he said right away. Sliding his hands to her waist, he tugged her closer again until she leaned back into him, their foreheads nearly touching. “Katara, I _really_ want to do… absolutely anything, whatever it is you have in mind. I just thought after you made that comment this morning about going slow—”

“ _That_ was teasing,” she insisted with a grin, “I didn’t exactly want to pull you by your hand into my bedroom right in front of Sokka and Suki, but I don’t want to wait too long, Aang. I think we’ve both wanted this for a long time.”

“You have?” he asked, somewhat surprised, smiling at her revelation. 

“You started filling out young,” she told him bashfully, her face heating up, “I’ve been attracted to you for a while— _that_ was never what I was confused about.”

That made him break out into a full grin; he thought of all the times they had been training, her in her wraps and he in his loose pants, and the tension when they touched that he had always assumed was one-sided. At times it had felt like a game, the way the intimacy flowed between them when they sparred, but he had long since told himself that it was in his head. Now he knew that it was not; she had been attracted to him too. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted you,” he murmured finally, “But are you sure you want to… well, what is it that you want to do?”

“I’m not sure exactly,” she admitted, stepping back from his arms. As she pulled away, her right hand slid from his shoulders, down his arm to his own hand, tugging him with her as she moved towards the bed. “We don’t have to have sex, but I want to be with you,” she insisted as she sat on the edge of the mattress, “I mean, we don’t _have_ to do anything, but—” 

Not in need of any convincing, thrilled by the sound of the word _sex_ leaving her mouth, he cut her off with a kiss. Leaning over her, he placed a hand on the bed beside her to support himself. After an evening of quick pecks and gentle kisses, he still got a rush whenever he was the one to lean in and initiate, amazed that she was okay with it now, that she wanted him. 

“I want to be with you, too,” he murmured against her lips as he pulled away, the simple words making her blush. Straightening up, Aang reached for the belt on his robes, beginning to untie it. Katara watched him with wide eyes, and he winked at her as he began to pull his tunic over his head. “Sorry I didn’t catch on earlier,” he joked, “I promise I’ll wear less next time.”

With a deep sigh, she shifted further onto the bed, lying down to watch him undress. He felt the hunger in her stare as he removed his tunic and pants and hung them over the back of her vanity chair. When he was done, he walked around to the other side of the bed to climb in next to her, just as he had done the other night when she’d asked him to stay. This time, she turned to him, smiling, reaching a hand out for him as he settled down beside her. 

He inhaled sharply when her fingertips met his bare chest, heat flooding his stomach immediately in response. Her hand slid up his chest, over his shoulder, to the back of his neck, drawing him in for a kiss. The feeling of her lips moving against his own made his head swim, and he reached for her without thinking, surprising himself when his hand met her bare hip, the bottom edge of his pinky finger just brushing her panties. She whimpered against him, wiggling closer until they were chest to chest, hip to hip, her breasts pressed against his muscles. 

Through the thin fabric of her bra, he could feel her hardened nipples. If he hadn’t been fully aroused before, he was then, and when she arched her back to get even closer to him, his cock twitched in excitement against her thigh, causing her to moan, just as she had last time. It faded into a groan of annoyance as he pulled apart from her lips, and then into a sigh of pleasure as he kissed his way down her neck instead. Her skin was so soft, so sweet beneath his lips.

“Aang,” she purred, her nails tracing the line of his tattoo behind his neck. The sound of his name leaving her lips like that made his heart soar. Encouraged, he nibbled gently at her neck, just below her ear, where it had felt so incredible when she tried it on him. As he kissed her, she slung her thigh over his hips to draw him closer, her leg draped over his own, and, impulsively, he slid his hand down over her panties to cup her smooth, round rear, helping her adjust. 

“ _Oh_ ,” she gasped, her fingernails digging into his shoulder. Repositioned, her center pressed directly against his hard length, only their underwear separating them. Even through two layers of fabric, she felt so _hot_ against him. His lips paused against her neck as he took a deep breath to calm himself, but it did little to help when his sensations were flooded with her sweet smell, like floral soap and the ocean, her soft hair tickling his cheek gently. After a few moments of him remaining still against her, she bucked her hips, grinding directly against him.

This time, he was the one moaning her name, pulling back just until they were nose-to-nose to look at her red face. “Katara,” he sighed a second time in adoration. He barely had a chance to look into her dark blue eyes before she was kissing him again, more passionately this time, her lips blazing against his own. Her warm tongue pressed into his mouth, sliding against his, completely emptying his mind as she tugged him closer with her hand around the back of his neck. She was so hot and pliant in his arms, her leg around his hips helping to guide her as she moved against him. 

Each pass of her hips over his own felt like fire surging through his entire body, especially when her wetness began to soak through the material separating them. Katara’s hand slid back to cup his cheek, leaning into him eagerly. Her ardent kisses were so unlike any of the few they had shared before. Her warm lips moving against his and her tongue meeting his with aching desperation felt different than he had expected but in the best way possible; it was so much more than just a kiss. She felt like liquid flames against him.

“Aang,” she hummed again, out of breath as she pulled away. Her hand, hot on his cheek, began to slide down his chest, over his defined muscles. “Oh, Spirits.”

“I love you so much,” he sighed happily, sliding his hand back up to the small of her back. “I still can’t quite believe this is happening.”

“Me too. It feels perfect,” she admitted after a second of hesitation, her voice low. As her fingertips moved over his stomach, making him shiver against her in pleasure at both her touch and affection, she added gently, “Aang, you can touch me wherever you want.” To illustrate, she arched her back slightly, pressing her chest forward into his own.

Something about the way she said that got to him; he could touch her wherever, whenever, however, and he was almost certain the same would be true the next night, when he could sneak into her room the same way then, too. These were all things she _wanted_ now, and to hear her say so in such a direct way sent his mind hazy with lust. Trailing his lips down her neck once again, he slid his hand up her back until he reached the strap of her silken bra, running his fingers tenderly over the material. He shifted himself down the bed gently as he went, his kisses passing her collarbone, her skin deliciously soft beneath his lips. She felt so delicate against him that it was hard to reconcile with how strong she really was, the power she held unmatched by anyone save for himself. As his lips met the hem of her lacey bra cup, she sucked in a deep breath, her hand at his side gripping him firmly.

“You’re so beautiful,” he told her again, placing a soft kiss between her breasts. She sighed deeply, her chest lifting into his face with her breath. Gently, he leaned in to kiss her nipple through the material, gratified by the way she shuddered against him. In their new position, her leg was more or less hooked over his side rather than his hip, but he reveled in her pleasure despite the lack of friction it provided him . Beneath his lips, through the lace and silk, he felt the soft bud of her nipple begin to harden with his attention. “Katara,” he breathed, looking up to see her as best he could, his mouth still nearly pressed to her breast, “Can I take this off of you?”

Despite his restricted vantage point, he saw the redness spread across her cheeks. “Yes,” she replied just as quietly. Behind her back, he moved his hand along the strap of her bra, stopping when he found the clasp in the center. Running his fingertips over it, he tried to pick out exactly _what_ it was that held the material on. After a brief moment, he realized he wouldn’t be able to figure it out and sat up on one elbow, leaning his chin over her shoulder to get a better idea of what was going on. Katara giggled but stopped once he got the clasp open, sighing heavily as he pulled back. Carefully, she slid her arms from the shoulder straps before tugging the material from her body, tossing it to the foot of the bed, leaving him with a full and perfect view of her breasts.

“Katara,” he moaned, leaning forward to rest his forehead just beneath her collarbone. Her dark pink nipples were perfect, already hard with her arousal. He reached for her once again to cup her breast gently, feeling its soft shape in the palm of his hand, reaching his thumb out to run over her nipple. Part of him felt sure he’d wake up and realize he was only dreaming, but instead, she hummed in pleasure at his touch, winding her arm around his shoulders to hold him against her. Leaning down gently, he pressed his lips over the nipple of her other breast. When she groaned loudly in response, his hard cock pulsed heavily against her thigh, causing her groan to fade out into a whimper, feeding off of one another’s arousal. She huffed above him as his tongue ran over the hard bud, and encouraged, he flicked his tongue over it faster, amazed by the way she cried out against him. 

After a moment of teasing both of her nipples, her hips began to thrust into him at a more regular rate, her nails clutching him tightly as her heavy breathing expanded her chest beneath him with each inhale. He kissed his way along the valley between her breasts again, his hand on her other breast moving to cup the soft flesh delicately. She sighed against him and her hips slowed along with the decreased stimulation he provided her. “You’re so incredibly sexy,” he whispered into her chest, dabbing his tongue at a salty bead of sweat he spotted running there between her breasts.

As his attention became gentler, she took advantage of his relaxation to push him back against the mattress suddenly, conviction in her blue eyes as she climbed atop him and straddled his lap. He gasped in surprise, caught off guard by her sudden movement, thrilled by the way her wet panties settled over his hard length through his underwear, her thighs on either side of his hips. 

Glancing up to look at her, he was amazed at the sight of so much of her bare, tan skin glistening in the candlelight as she sat on him. Her breasts, nipples wet and swollen from his attention, sat against her chest, surrounded on either side by the curtain of her dark wavy hair falling over her shoulders. Finally, he glanced up and met her eyes, dark with lust as she watched him take her body in. As they looked at one another, Katara slid her hand down his stomach, her fingertips moving through the line of hair just above his waistband, and he groaned aloud at the contact.

“I want to touch you,” she murmured, hooking a finger into his underwear. Her words flooded him with heat, and his arousal twitched between them; her finger was hardly a centimeter from him now, so close that he could practically _feel_ her. Grinning confidently at his interest, she asked, “Is that okay?”

“More than okay,” he said softly, thrusting his hips gently up into her own, noticing her eyes grow unfocused as they ground together. Just as quickly as she had climbed on top of him, she was back at his side, facing him as he lay on his back. He watched her face while she slid her hand down his stomach again, and his muscles shivered beneath her in anticipation. She had an adorably focused look of concentration on her face; wonder sparkled in her eyes as she explored his body. Gently, her fingers slid over his underwear, wrapping around the hard shape of his cock through the fabric. He sucked in a sharp, involuntary breath in response to her touch, his arousal throbbing against her fingers. She marveled at the brand new feeling, her hand slowly beginning to caress him. Under her ministrations, he gasped and writhed until his hard length was fully aroused, the tip beginning to poke at the waistband of his underwear as she moved over the material. 

“Aang,” she moaned, glancing up at him, her eyebrows furrowed with her desire. “Do you think we could take these off too?” She asked, tugging at his underwear. 

Right away, he lifted his hips, pulling his last remaining article of clothing down his legs. Looking back at her nervously, he found her unfocused gaze fixed on his arousal. 

“ _Aang_ ,” she repeated, awed, as she reached forward to curl her fingers around his newly revealed cock. He groaned at the contact, her skin hot against his own. He shifted his attention from the look of amazement and desire in her eyes to her hand moving over him, watching the way her dark, slim fingers looked wrapped around his length. Slowly, she began to stroke him, her hand sliding up over the head of his cock, stoking the fire building in his gut. “How is this?” she asked in a quiet purr.

“It feels _really_ good,” he told her honestly, trying to tamp down the rapidly building fire running through his body, intoxicating him. 

She sighed happily, watching her hand as she worked, trying to figure out the best way to touch him. When her thumb tenderly stroked the head of his cock, he thrust lightly up into her hand. Excited by his enthusiasm, she picked up her pace, her hand moving more quickly over his length. As she sped up her movements, the burning pleasure he felt became twinged with discomfort at the friction her hand produced. Before he could say anything, she noticed the change in his expression and paused. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he answered quickly, then hesitated before beginning to sit up, adding, “Actually, I’ll be right back; I’m just going to grab something quickly.”

Looking bewildered, she withdrew her hand, and as he stood up, he leaned over the bed to kiss her, moving to cup her hand with one cheek. She tried to reach for him, parting her lips against his own, but he pulled away, laughing softly. “ _Right_ back,” he repeated as he stepped back from her embrace. He made his way to her vanity and quickly spotted what he was looking for: her bottle of seaweed lotion, in the back against the mirror. Picking it up carefully to avoid disturbing her surrounding collection of cosmetics, he turned around to go back to her and immediately noticed her smirk as she recognized what he was holding. As he walked back to the bed, he pumped some of the lotion into his hand, warming it nearly instantly with some discrete firebending. When he sat down next to her, she put her hand out for the lotion, and he grinned at her, transferring the now quite warm lotion to her hand.

“Oh wow,” she said when she felt the temperature of it, “I should get you to do this for me every time I come out of the bath.”

“I would love to,” he said seriously, glancing at her as he settled back against the pillows once again, his arm around her. Now, her eyes looked dark with lust as she surveyed him. His arousal had diminished somewhat during the past several minutes, but when she reached forward to touch him again, her hand now coated in slick, warm lotion, he moaned, his cock pulsing as it swelled beneath her fingers.

“ _Oh_ ,” she gasped as her hand slid easily over him, his hips bucking up against her. He was thankful that she enjoyed his enthusiasm because he felt helpless beneath her touch. She was the star of every fantasy and dirty dream he’d had for years, and now she was touching him, her gorgeous breasts exposed, her gaze fixed with wonder on her hand as it moved over him.

“Katara,” he breathed, leaning in to kiss whatever part of her he could reach. She was half sitting up, leaning her weight on her left elbow to get a closer look at what she was doing, so his lips met her neck, and he felt her breathing stutter as he kissed her there. He was glad that she enjoyed it as much as he did when he did that, as he found it intoxicating, the smell of her and her shampoo surrounding him, the sweet taste of her salty skin, the feeling of her heart rate picking up right beneath his lips. He groaned as she touched him, his breath hot against her skin as he thrust his hips into her grasp. She kept running her thumb over the head of his cock with each stroke, having realized its sensitivity, and it felt indescribably incredible. 

“Aang,” she purred, craning her neck to give him more room to kiss her, “Tell me what I can do to make this feel even better for you.”

He huffed out a soft laugh which turned into a moan when she twisted her hand over him with her next pass over his length. “You’re doing _perfectly_ , Sweetie,” he murmured against her neck, just below her earlobe, making her shiver in pleasure against him. 

As she continued stroking him, the lotion slick between their skin, he raised his hips to meet her hand, reveling in her soft gasp each time. He wondered if she was thinking about the same thing he was: what it would be like when he was thrusting into her rather than just her hand, how incredibly intimate it would feel to actually be filling her over and over. All at once, her touch wasn’t enough. With a gentle sigh against her neck, where his lips had been kissing her idly, he added, tentatively, “Actually… maybe a little faster.”

Her heart rate soared at her pulse point beneath his lips, and the speed of her hand over his cock began to pick up. Her fingers twisted gently with each rapid stroke, the sound of their skin sliding together barely audible over the sound of his own heart pounding in his ears. “Like that?” she asked coyly.

“Katara,” he moaned heavily, burying his forehead against her shoulder as he gasped for air, unraveling beneath her touch, “ _Exactly_ like that.”

“Aang,” she whispered imploringly. He pulled away to look at her, his eyebrows furrowed deeply with his intense pleasure, and was caught off guard when she captured him in a searing kiss. Humming in satisfaction, he parted his lips, seeking out her soft tongue. She met him easily as her hand worked swiftly over his cock. He could feel her hair tickling his shoulder as she leaned over him and the sensation drove him wild, another reminder of their amazing intimacy, and he reached up to cup her cheek to hold her closer. As her tongue slid sensuously against his own, he felt his orgasm building all too soon.

“Katara,” he gasped against her lips; her name had never tasted so sweet in his mouth and he couldn’t stop saying it. When he looked at her, her eyes were burning with her desire, her attention focused solely on him. Exhilarated by the intense gratification she felt at his own pleasure, he leaned forward to rest his forehead gently against her own, his own eyes sinking closed. “I’m going to come if you keep doing that,” he said quietly.

With a sharp intake of breath, Katara sped up the motion of her hand over his throbbing arousal even further, twisting her thumb over the head of his cock with each pass, in awe of his coming undone. “I want you to,” she answered so softly it was nearly inaudible. 

He cried her name out in surprise at her reply, continually amazed at the intensity of her desire for him. His eyes were still closed when she leaned in to kiss him again, but he melted forward into her at the sudden contact, groaning against her lips. He slid his hand back into her hair, threading his fingers against her scalp to hold her close to him as he thrust into her hand. She kissed him fervently, her wet lips, swollen from their kisses, moving sensually against his own; his mind went completely blank, dazed when she tugged at his bottom lip with her teeth. He could feel the white hot pleasure coiling in his gut, and as he tried to pull back to warn her, she leaned in with him so that he was unable to break apart from their kiss, her lips moving more passionately against his, determined. Giving into her, he moaned into their kiss, holding her close as he bucked up into her hand. With one final twist of her hand, he was coming, whimpering against her lips as his cock pulsed wildly between her fingers, his cum spilling out onto her knuckles as he lost himself, indulging in their intimacy. 

Once he stilled, she pulled apart from his lips, both of their cheeks flushed deep red as they looked at one another. Slowly, Katara turned her gaze towards her hand, still wrapped around his now softening cock, her fingers coated in his cum. She took a deep breath, her pupils flaring with arousal. Carefully, he reached around her to grab a handkerchief off of her nightstand to clean them both up. When he offered it to her, her cheeks darkened further, but she accepted it and gently let go of him, bringing her hand closer to her face to inspect the way his release dripped down her fingers. He watched, about to apologize for making a mess on her when her small pink tongue darted out, swiping through his cum lining her knuckles.

“ _Katara_ ,” he moaned, surprised. She was so stunningly sexy, and even though he had just come (all over her hand, he thought again), he felt arousal stirring in his gut, speeding up his just-beginning-to-slow heart rate. 

“What?” she asked innocently, flushing. “I was curious. It’s… I think, more bitter than I imagined, but… not bad.” Her eyes surveyed his expression for a response, and he had no control over the fresh wave of arousal reflected there. “Good to know for later,” she added with a wink.

Finally, she began to wipe his release from her hand with the handkerchief he had offered. He watched, transfixed, as she dabbed at it from between her fingers, over her knuckles, a bit on the back of her hand. It was a detail so small that he had never considered it, but in front of him now, he found it extremely sexy—and she had _tasted_ it. 

Once her hand was relatively clean, she glanced down at his stomach, where a spot that had shot particularly far still remained. Setting the cloth napkin aside, she leaned down, pressing her tongue flat against the hard muscles of his stomach as she lapped the last of the mess up. He whimpered beneath her, his muscles rippling under her tongue as she moved, both because it tickled and because of his overwhelming arousal. Never before, on his own, had he still felt so much need after an orgasm. It was as if his desire for her had not been satiated in the least. He wanted her so badly, and he wanted her over and over again. When she finally sat up, he reached forward to tug her into a kiss, tasting his own salty-bitter release on her lips.

Just as her tongue slid into his mouth, he pulled away suddenly to flip them, pushing her gently until she was on her back and he was on top of her, the same way she had done to him earlier. She grinned at him, her eyes wide with longing, and he leaned down to reconnect their kiss. Humming in approval, she pulled him closer, wrapping a leg around his hips to tug him against her. He reveled in her moan when he ground down into her. Again, he pulled back, kissing the corner of her lips gently when she whimpered in protest. 

“Katara,” he murmured against her, in love with the way her name tasted rolling off of his tongue so sweetly, “I love you so much. That was amazing; I want to make you feel good too.” When she said nothing, only breathed heavily beneath him, he added, “Is that okay?”

“ _Yes_ ,” she replied firmly. Grinning, he sat up to kneel between her legs, enjoying the eagerness in her eyes as he placed his hands on her hips. He took a moment to feel her thighs, grazing his hands over the silky smooth skin there, drawing a soft sigh from her.

“Is _this_ okay?” he asked, hooking his fingers into the waistband of her panties. She nodded immediately, and he tugged them down over her hips, shifting briefly to sit next to her so that he could pull them off completely. His heart nearly stopped at the sight of the patch of hair above the apex of her legs; it was another small, wildly erotic detail that he had not spent much time thinking about before. Carefully, he climbed back between her legs. Though she parted them for him, her cheeks flushed deeply as he sat.

“You’re going to stay down there?” she asked apprehensively.

His eyes locked onto hers instead of drifting between her legs, where she was spread open before him. “I don’t have to if you don’t want me to,” he said, “But… I want to see you.”

As the heat in her cheeks diffused throughout her whole face, she nodded tentatively, spreading her legs wider. With her permission, he slid his hands up her thighs, caressing her soft skin as he dropped his gaze to the center of her open legs. Her dark pink lips were shiny with slickness, such an erotically unfamiliar sight. Reaching forward with his right hand, he ran his thumb down her slit, noting the way she shuddered at the tip when he started. She was _so_ wet that his head swam with lust as he reached her entrance. Gently, he brought his hand back up to the top, resting his fingers over the surprisingly soft hair there, circling the pad of his thumb tenderly over the spot that had caused her reaction before. As he did, she gasped, wiggling her hips beneath him, seeking more. 

“Does that feel good?” he asked softly, smiling at the sight of her lean form spread out in front of him, her exquisite curves highlighted in the flickering candlelight, pleasure etched out across her facial expression. When she nodded, biting her lip, he added gently, “More?”

She nodded again, so he pressed slightly harder, moving a little bit faster. The small change seemed to have a big effect for her, and she reached out to clutch at the covers, writhing beneath him. He couldn’t believe how responsive she was and watched, awed, as she bucked her hips against his hand. Ignoring the way his cock twitched in his lap, now fully aroused again, he slid his left hand forward to caress her inner thigh. She sensed his hesitation and thrust her hips upwards again. “Aang,” she breathed longingly, “ _Please._ ”

Carefully, he pressed one finger forward into her, the thumb of his other hand still circling her sensitive, swollen nub. He groaned at how easily his pointer finger slid into her, all the way up to his knuckle, and she gasped, tugging at the covers where they were balled in her hands. Her walls felt so delicate around his finger, her muscles so tight, the heady feeling overwhelming. Slowly, he pulled his finger back before pressing into her once more. When her hips bucked beneath him, her walls tensed around his fingers with her movement, and his vision clouded with need for a moment. The next time he withdrew his finger, he added another, his two fingers pushing gently into her entrance. She easily accommodated him, his name leaving her mouth in a frenzied cry as he pressed them forward to fill her. From his spot kneeling between her legs, it was so easy to imagine her legs wrapped around him, leaning forward to fill her with his throbbing arousal instead, the _sounds_ she would make then if this was how she reacted to his hands. Instead, he tried hard to focus on the scene in front of him, his best friend, the love of his life, sprawled out and squirming with pleasure; he focused on maintaining the pace of both of his movements, his thumb circling her spot of pleasure, the fingers of his other hand filling her repeatedly. Her fluid was spilling out against his hands, her thighs, and the blanket beneath them, and the musky smell of her sex drove him wild. 

“Oh, Katara,” he gasped, “You feel so incredible, you’re so gorgeous.”

His words fueled her pleasure, her desperate whimpers filling the air as she thrust forward against his fingers, meeting them each time he filled her. She’d tried plenty of times with her fingers before, but it had never felt anything like this, his own so long and broad and nimble and _his_ as they moved in and out of her in a perfect rhythm. Her slim hips were powerful as they jerked in bliss, seeking more and more, wanting. Never had he imagined that she would ever come so viscerally undone practically in his lap, desiring _him_ , and it was extremely gratifying. The picture before him would stay in his memory for a long time. Eventually, her thighs began to tense on either side of his, her knees tightening around him. He could feel her oncoming climax in the way her walls clenched his fingers as he pressed them into her, their skin sliding together wonderfully, lubricated by her flowing juices. 

“Aang,” she whispered frantically, tugging harder at the covers. He carefully picked up the speed of his thumb touching her, and she moaned, her back arching off of the bed, her hips raised in the air, just before she came. Her walls convulsed around his fingers buried deep inside of her as his thumb eased up, amazed at the way her muscles kept pulsing around him, over and over, on and on. His name escaped her lips several times in the midst of her unintelligible cries, her fluid spilling out over his fingers as she rode them to completion. Slowing his thumb down to ease her back, he withdrew his fingers once she had finished, inspecting the slickness covering them, similar to how she had. He leaned in to suck her juices from his hand, as curious about the taste as she was. He heard her groan as she watched him from below and winked as he pulled his now clean fingers from his mouth. She tasted musky and tangy and sweet all at once, absolutely addictive. He wanted to bury his head between her legs right then and there.

“Definitely not bad,” he agreed with a grin, shifting to her side to allow her to move, “You’re right, that is good to know.” Her blush was hard to make out amid the redness in her face from her recent climax. As he lay down next to her, he wrapped an arm gently around her and leaned in to press a kiss to her nose. “Katara…”

Rather than say anything, she buried her head in his shoulder, cuddling forward into him. Running his hand over her back comfortingly, he kissed her temple. She sighed happily against him and her breasts pressed into him with each deep breath she took. When she wiggled her hips against his, trying to get as close to him as possible, her breath hitched at the sudden sensation of his hard arousal pressing into her thigh.

“Aang…” she purred into his shoulder, shifting back to look at him. She tried to reach forward to touch him again, but he caught her hand gently in his own, intertwining their fingers.

“It’s okay,” he told her softly, smiling as he cuddled closer to her to close the gap between them once more, “I just _really_ enjoyed that. Katara…”

“I love you,” she murmured, her voice thick with adoration, her blue eyes shining so close to his own. He felt lightheaded at the pleasure of hearing her say that to him; they were such simple words that she’d spoken so many times before, but now they were imbued with new meaning and intimacy that sent a thrill through him. “That was… better than I’ve ever imagined it would be,” she added, flushing, “but we only…”

“I thought so too. We can do more next time if you want,” he reassured her with a wink, “And next time can be whenever you want.”

“Not right now, though,” she huffed jokingly, teasing him for rejecting her advance a moment ago.

Laughing softly, he leaned forward to kiss her; the prospect that he had turned her down at all demonstrated how much had changed that day, and it made his head spin. “I _want_ to stay up all night with you,” he promised her, “But we have things to do tomorrow and neither of us slept well last night.”

“Mmmh,” she agreed, cuddling forward into him again. Glancing around, Aang spotted a blanket folded at the foot of the bed and launched it towards them smoothly with a burst of air. Katara made a small noise of pleasure as he spread it out over them, pulling her against his chest once more.

“Are you tired right now, Sweetie?” he asked quietly, running his nails over her back.

“Mmh,” she agreed again, nuzzling further into him. Grinning, he reached up and shot small blasts of air around the room to put all of the candles out, darkness covering them at once. When he was done, he wrapped his arm around her once more. After a moment, the slow rise and fall of her back beneath his hand indicated that she had fallen asleep already, and he grinned wider as he buried his nose into her hair, overjoyed at the feeling of having her in his arms. That night, he fell asleep much faster than the night before, the warmth of Katara’s bare body radiating against his own.

* * *

Always an early riser, Aang came to the next morning as soon as the sun’s natural rays began to enter the room, the sunlight warming his eyelids. The second he opened his eyes and spotted Katara’s sleeping face inches from his own, the night before came flooding back to him, warming his whole body in a way that the sun could not. Her body was so deliciously _hot_ while she slept, and he felt it everywhere they touched, from her breasts on his chest as she cuddled up against him to her thigh pressed against his own to their hips, where his enjoyment of their position made itself clear, his arousal pressed to her hip bone. The last thing he wanted was to leave their embrace, but he also knew that none of them would be happy if Sokka discovered him there that morning. Gently, he tried to extricate himself from beneath her, shifting her to the mattress below, but of course she woke up, furrowing her eyebrows up at him through the morning light.

“Where are you going?” she asked groggily.

“I’m getting up,” he replied softly, leaning back down to brush her messy hair away from her face. She looked so heart stoppingly gorgeous, looking up at him like she _needed_ him to stay, and he almost gave in to her silent plea. Instead, he leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead and added, “Go back to sleep, Sweetie. It’s still early.”

Tiredly, she reached a hand out for his, lacing their fingers together and giving him a gentle tug. “Exactly,” she argued half heartedly, resting her head back on the pillow.

He laughed, giving her one more kiss on her temple before pulling away. “I’ll see you when you wake up.”

That seemed to be enough for her, and she burrowed herself back into the covers until she was an unrecognizable mass of blanket. Pleased, he moved about the room, first shutting the curtains so that the light would not disturb her sleep and then grabbing his clothes from her vanity stool, where he had left the night before. Once he was dressed, he looked around the room, eager to leave her some small sign that he had been thinking of her. After a moment, he quietly opened her wardrobe and took her clothes out, carefully folding them into a stack: her skirt, her top, her bindings, her tights, and her arm wraps. He left the neat pile at the foot of the bed on the side he had been sleeping on, ready for her to put on when she woke up. Unable to resist, he pressed another kiss to her hair, her sleeping form remaining still beneath his lips. Feeling as though his heart might burst with satisfaction, he surveyed the room one final time before leaving for his morning meditation.

  
  



	8. Chapter 8

When he returned to the house, he could hear the three of them in the kitchen immediately upon entering the door and followed the sound to find his friends all sitting down for breakfast. As soon as he entered the doorway, Katara’s face lit up, and she flew up out of her chair towards him, wrapping herself around him in a tight embrace.

“Sweetie!” she cried, her ankles linking behind his back as he tried desperately to avoid Sokka’s angry glare over her shoulder. 

“Hey,” he replied uneasily, carefully hooking his hands beneath her thighs to try to put her down. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” she said innocently. Her body clung to his even as she put her feet back on the ground, her arms lingering around his neck, “How was your meditation?”

“Okay,” he answered, still hesitating. Her eyes sparkled innocently as she looked up at him, but she wasn’t acting like herself. He surveyed the room; Sokka was fuming, sitting straight up like an angry dog, and Suki was trying to calm him down. Her gaze met his, apology and sympathy in her eyes. Right away, he knew this was about Sokka’s reaction. Gingerly removing himself from Katara’s firm embrace, he asked, “If nothing’s going on, then why is Sokka about to eat me?”

Sighing, she finally stepped back to sit back down in her seat across from her brother. “No idea,” she lied. Then, pushing the fruit bowl in the center of the table forward, she asked, “Do you want some breakfast?”

Tentatively, he sat down in the chair beside her. “No, thanks,” he responded, keeping his eyes on Sokka. Harsh annoyance lined his face, but his features softened when his gaze made contact with the airbender’s gentle gray eyes. “What happened? Are you that upset about Katara and I?” Aang asked nervously. He felt her shift in anger beside him when he began to speak, but she froze at the softness of his question, glancing hesitantly at her brother.

“Look, Aang,” Sokka said, sighing as he leaned back in his chair, finally relaxing his tense stance. “It’s nothing personal, okay? It’s just…  _ gross _ to see my sister all over anyone. I mean, you guys have been together for a day and you already have sickening pet names for each other.”

Flushing, Aang cleared his throat to move past his embarrassment before Katara could jump in as he felt her heart rate soar at her brother’s accusation. “It’s not really that simple. You know that we have a complicated past together—we all do. We’re not exactly starting from a blank slate.”

Sokka groaned, resting his elbows on the table to bury his face in his hands so that he wouldn’t have to look at Aang anymore. “Well, it  _ feels _ sudden and weird to see you guys touching so much and calling each other  _ Sweetie, _ ” he said, and then, looking up with a glare, added, “And I almost lost my breakfast when Katara jumped on you like that—I never want to see my sister doing that in my kitchen.”

Aang was glad that Sokka was not looking at him as his cheeks flushed red at the accusation. “That wasn’t—“

“Sokka, you  _ know  _ that I was just trying to piss you off,” Katara countered, cutting him off. “You need to get used to us though—it’s not your business what we do or call each other. Nobody’s ever said anything to you or Suki.”

“Suki and I aren’t all mushy like that!” he retorted. Aang turned to glance at Katara and found her looking over at him as well, both seeking confirmation from the other that Sokka’s statement was completely untrue. Before either of them could find a way to call him out, Suki finally spoke up. 

“Yes, we are, sometimes,” she insisted, leaning in to him. “Leave them alone, Sokka. Let them be happy.” As she spoke, she shot Katara a small, supportive smile across the table. When Sokka sighed but was mostly unresponsive, Suki began to stand up, collecting their empty dishes. “I think it’s time for us to go, anyway,” she said, giving Sokka’s arm a tug. “Right?”

Aang watched as he turned to her with a glare, then softened when he saw the hardness in her own expression. “Right,” he agreed reluctantly, standing up as his girlfriend brought their used plates to the sink inside. “Don’t do anything gross while we’re gone—especially not in any public spaces in the house!”

Katara sighed heavily as Suki returned and then pulled him around the corner into the living room. Once she heard the front door slam, she turned to Aang with a wry smile. “Should we have sex on his bed?”

He coughed to cover up the strangled sound her suggestion drew from him. It still felt shocking to hear something like that from her, and his blood heated up immediately. Taking a deep breath to calm down, he looked at her admonishingly. “Why are you trying to make it worse?”

“I’m not,” she insisted, her eyebrows furrowing immediately in her denial. The longer he said nothing, the more her expression began to morph into one of doubt until she added, “It just bothers me when he sticks his nose into my life that way, like he’s my guard dog or something. I don’t understand why he’s so focused on our physical relationship—it just makes me uncomfortable. And anyway, we’ve always been kind of…” she trailed off, glancing away as she searched for the right word to describe the way physical touch had been so casual between them from the beginning, from correcting bending stances to comforting hugs to the linked arms that Toph had given them so much shit for that night in the Fire Nation.

Before she could come up with anything, he reached for her shoulder, causing her to turn her head towards him. He slid his hand to her back and rubbed her muscles there soothingly until she relaxed into his palm. “I know,” he told her softly, leaning over to kiss her temple. She flushed, her wide blue eyes fixed firmly on his own. With his other hand, he caressed her cheek, marveling over how soft her skin was beneath his thumb. “I’m sorry that he’s acting this way—it’s not fair for him to make you uncomfortable like that. I didn’t realize you felt that way.”

“Aang,” she sighed, her back muscles tightening beneath his hand again. “There’s so many rules for women—especially in the Water Tribes—about dating and sex, and I just don’t want anyone telling me what to do,” she continued, her fingers reaching up to toy with her mother’s necklace, the betrothal necklace that Pakku had made for her Gran Gran so long ago. “I didn’t become a waterbending master, help end a war, and move to Republic City so that Sokka could follow me around and basically tell me to… I don’t even know! Save my virginity for marriage?”

Aang’s face turned beet red as the word ‘virginity’ left her lips. It took him a minute to process before he was able to respond, “I get why it feels so weird. Do you want to try to talk to him? Maybe we should give him time to cool down first.”

“I shouldn’t have to explain this to him,” she said with a deep sigh, reaching for his hand from her cheek to hold it in her own, her fingers wiggling against his in antsy frustration. “It’s my life, and it’s my body—I’m not going to stop and justify my choices to him until we get his permission.”

“That’s not quite what I meant,” he tried half-heartedly, almost sure that she would not listen. 

As he expected, she sighed and extricated her hands from his own. “It’s getting late. I should go—I’m sure they’re expecting me at the clinic,” she said, beginning to stand up, avoiding his eyes as she went.

“Katara,” he murmured. He stood with her, reaching gently for her shoulder to stop her before she could walk away from him. She stopped, so he continued, “I’m not going to listen to anyone but you about what we do together. I love you, and I respect you too much to let someone else make decisions about how I show that to you.”

Her face softened as he spoke, her eyes finding his own. Once he was done, she leaned up for a kiss which he accepted eagerly. “Thank you,” she whispered against his lips, “I love you too.” 

When she pulled away, her eyes were shining as she smiled up at him, and he pressed a second kiss to her forehead. “Try not to worry about it too much today,” he said quietly, his thumb sliding tenderly over her shoulder as he held her there. “It’s going to be okay.”

With a sigh, she nodded, reaching up to give him another peck on the lips before stepping back from him. “I really should go though.”

He couldn’t help but smile at the simplistic casualness of her kiss, and he followed her into the sitting room. “I think I’ll head out with you,” he said, idly admiring the curve of her rear as she bent over to slide her shoes on. “I’m meeting with the council again today; now that we have a few leads, they want to voice their opinions about how we should deal with the group of firebenders behind the attack.”

“Oh no,” she said, cringing as she stood back up, “Will Sokka be there?”

“Luckily no,” Aang replied, “He’s meeting with Suki and Toph; they’re coming up with plans to raid the potential headquarters of the group.”

Katara grinned as she followed him to the front door. “What about the opinions of the business council?”

He groaned, opening the front door and stepping back to hold it for her. “If they say anything at all useful, I’ll let Sokka know right away,” he said dryly. When she giggled at his comment, he smiled despite himself. Though he wasn’t necessarily happy about spending the day listening to the questionable political views of old rich business owners, it wasn’t nearly enough to bring him down from the high of finally being with her. He was glad that he wouldn’t see Toph that day as he was sure she would call him out for his radiantly good mood and easily figure out what had happened the night before; she would tease them endlessly about it, and he didn’t want her to find out that way.

Outside, Katara turned to Aang to say goodbye before he took off for the City Hall building. Winding her arms around his neck, she leaned up for a kiss. He complied easily, meeting her halfway to press his lips to her own as he reached for her hips to hold her close. When he pulled away, she sighed heavily, looking up at him with a blissful look in her eyes.

“I would offer you a quick flight to the clinic,” he said, grinning, “But I have a feeling that you’d say no.”

She laughed, tilting her head forward to rest against his neck. The way she touched him and spoke to him made him suspect that she, too, wanted to draw out their goodbye and hold onto the simple euphoria of being with one another. After a moment of nuzzling into him, she replied, her smile evident in her voice, “I’m not sure the teasing would ever stop if anyone saw. Besides, it’s only a short walk.”

“Let me know if you ever change your mind,” he murmured, catching her in another kiss as she tried to pull away.

“Aang,” she purred against his lips a moment later, “We have to go.”

Laughing, he finally moved his hands from her hips and allowed her to step back, her arms falling from his shoulders as she did so. “Goodbye, Sweetie,” he said, his heart pounding when he saw the way her eyes sparkled with delight at their saccharine pet name for one another.

“Good luck with the council,” she replied, flushing at the way he smiled at her in return, and watched with a grin as he snapped his glider open and took off in one smooth movement. Her hair fluttered in the breeze that swept through with his ascent, and she felt her face grow hot as his display of agility affected in a way that it never had before. For a moment, she stood there and considered the deft way his muscles moved, the confidence that had grown in him over the years as he had worked to master all four of the elements. His body was incredible, but so was the way he used it. Deciding that following that line of thought was not the best idea at that hour of the morning, she shook her head and took a deep breath to slow her now rapid heart rate before setting off for the clinic.

  
  


* * *

  
  


That night, afraid of Sokka overhearing him if he tried to slip into Katara’s bedroom, he stayed back in his own room and prepared for bed with a long, warm bath and a pair of soft lounge pants. While he was disappointed to be without her for the night, it was hard to stay down for long when he knew that he’d be with her again soon—it would be their new normal before long, a thought that made his whole body feel warm. He was just about to get under the covers when he heard a quiet rapping at his door. 

Immediately, he was concerned about her and was at the door in less than a second. Her lidded eyes, filled with lust and a teasing sort of mirth, both startled and soothed him. She stood there in a tiny, thin, pale blue silk bathrobe, her hand clutching her other forearm in front of her as she gazed up at him. “Hi,” she murmured, “Are you coming?”

“I thought Sokka might—“ he started, but stopped when her expression shifted, her eyebrow raising at his line of thought. Afraid of restarting their almost-argument from that morning and just as eager to spend the night together as she was, he smiled at her instead. “Let’s go,” he said confidently, stepping forward until she had to crane her neck to look at him. 

Her surprise at his surrender came and went quickly, replaced with a look of pleased amusement. She led him back to her room, and he shut his bedroom door quietly behind him as he followed her across the hall. Once inside with the door closed, she turned to him with a smirk so charged with sexual energy that he felt his mouth go dry. “I’ve been looking forward to tonight all day,” she purred, removing her robe to reveal that she was dressed only in a small pair of panties similar to the ones she’d worn the night before. “I can’t believe you were going to leave me all alone.”

Sighing at her beauty as he took in the sight of her lean form and round breasts, he stepped forward to take her in his arms, winding them comfortably around her waist. “I have, too,” he said quietly, kissing her forehead, “I didn’t mean to upset you or keep you waiting.”

“I’m not upset. I just want you here,” she breathed, dispelling the uncertainty in his words, wrapping her arms around his neck. “It felt so good to sleep next to each other last night.”

“Yeah? I thought so too,” he said, grinning as he pulled back just enough to see her rosy cheeks and the arousal blooming in her gaze. “And I really mean  _ sleeping _ —I loved waking up next to you this morning.”

“Just sleeping?” she asked coyly, moving one hand to cup his face. 

He leaned into her touch, nuzzling into her hand before kissing her palm. “Everything,” he said gently, “Definitely not just sleeping.”

“Mmh… I liked what you did with the lotion,” she hummed, leaning into his chest to hide her flush, “But you weren’t here to do it when I got out of the bath this morning.”

He laughed, holding her close with one arm while he moved to stroke the back of her head with his other hand. “I’m so sorry, Sweetie,” he apologized teasingly, his voice sweet and deep in her ear despite the trivial nature of her complaint, “I promise, next time.” 

As if by reflex, she relaxed further into his chest until he was supporting her weight, wrapping both arms around his neck once more. Gently, he reached down for her thighs, and she moved in sync with him, holding him to brace herself as he pulled her off her feet in one smooth movement. Her thighs wrapped around his hips as he held her up with her hands on the curves of her rear. “Okay?” he asked finally, his voice a quiet purr in her ear as she rested her head against his shoulder.

“Yes,” she said, sighing happily. Her lips tickled his neck as she placed soft kisses there. With her wrapped firmly around himself, he began carrying her to the bed, lying her back against the covers. As he pulled away, her arms and legs unwound from him instinctively, and he saw that her face was flushed, her eyes wide with anticipation of his next move. He stood, taking a moment to remove his pants so that he was in only his underwear, just as she was.

“Aang,” she breathed, reaching out for him as soon as he was done. With his pants gone, she was able to see the prominent outline of his arousal, and it thrilled her and turned her on just as much as it had the night before. She hadn’t even touched him and yet he was fully hard, straining against his underwear, throbbing with need as she stared. He grinned as he climbed into the bed beside her, leaning in to kiss her gently. As he pulled away, she smirked at him, gazing up at him with hunger in her eyes.

“So,” she purred, leaning in dangerously, her hand on his chest, “Last night you said that we could do  _ more _ next time?”

With flushed cheeks, he mirrored her interest, leaning towards her as well. He cupped his hand around her cheek tenderly and ran his thumb over her soft skin. “I remember,” he confirmed, then added teasingly, “You look like you have plans.”

“Not specifically,” she said, blushing as well. Her cheeks heated up beneath his fingers, and he smiled warmly at her. “I just had a really good time last night, but I kept… wanting.”

He sighed, moving to tuck her hair behind her ear. “Me too,” he agreed. She waited for him to say more, but he just looked at her; she could see in his eyes that his reply was purposely noncommittal, leaving the decision of where to go from there up to her.

“I kept wanting more,” she insisted, enjoying the way his pupils widened with his arousal, “But I didn’t want to push and go too far.”

“Katara,” he groaned, his eyes slipping closed as he leaned his forehead to her own. Though they had only been together for two days, she had noticed that he liked to do that a lot—it was such an intimate gesture, and she found that she loved it, too, loved to feel the warmth of his breath, loved the closeness of it. “I felt the same way—I don’t want to rush.”

“I don’t want to  _ wait, _ ” she said, half-whining, surprising both of them with her intensity. He pulled back to look at her, his gorgeous steel blue eyes assessing her. “I guess I just don’t see the point. We’ve waited so long already, and now I just want you,” she told him honestly, feeling her face heat up as she spoke. She felt naked when he stared at her like that, seeing through straight to her soul. 

“Okay,” he murmured, leaning closer once more, “I want to do whatever you want to do, Sweetie.”

“Just like that?” she asked, confused at his sudden agreement. “We don’t have to  _ tonight _ , I just meant—”

“Just like that,” he said gently, interrupting her rambling as he slid his hand back to tuck into her hair, nudging her closer. She moved easily with him until they were almost nose to nose, captivated by the darkness in his crystal eyes. It was like nothing she had ever truly seen before yesterday, and it drove her wild; she saw that dark, wanting gaze every time she closed her eyes now. “ _ Whenever _ you want,” he added softly, then repeated again, “I want to do whatever you want to do.”

“Aang,” she murmured softly. Running her hand along his side to slide over his back, she wiggled closer to press herself up against him and shifted her hips until she felt the hardness of his arousal pressed into his upper thigh. She sighed contentedly and felt her heart race at the dazed look of lust in his eyes just before she kissed him, enjoying the way his remaining tension softened against her. His lips moved tenderly against her own, but she pressed forward, her tongue sliding eagerly between his lips, drawing a small sound of pleasure from him. She felt as though a dam had been broken and all of her desire for him was spilling forth, and she was helpless to stop it. She’d spent the entire day thinking about the way his hard muscles had pressed against her breasts, the way his large, warm hands had caressed her body all over  _ so _ lovingly, the way his long, broad fingers had filled her, the way his cock had felt in her hand, pulsing as he came. It had been impossible to focus on anything, and now that he was in her bed again, she was overwhelmed with her desire for him. 

As his tongue finally met hers, she hooked her leg over his hips, desperate to get closer to him. However, her movements only lessened her contact with his growing arousal, and she pulled away, sighing in frustration. When he only looked at her, confused, she pushed him onto his back in his hesitation, climbing atop him to straddle his hips, and was gratified by the way his eyes felt on her, glowing with devotion. She recalled the way he had enjoyed that last night and was glad to see a similar reaction this time, as she loved sitting on top of him, too; she loved pinning down the most powerful man in the world, reducing him to a helpless puddle beneath her. Sliding her hands up his stomach, over his chest, she lay down as she went until they were eye to eye. They were pressed together everywhere possible, from their chests to their stomachs to their pelvises, where his hardness pressed firmly against her center through their underwear. His eyes looked like  _ fire _ when she met his gaze, and, as she reached a hand up to cup his jaw, she smirked, murmuring, “That’s better.”

Keeping his eyes fixed on hers, he skimmed his hands over her back to cup her rear, one wide palm splayed over each cheek, tugging her hips against his so that they ground together. She sucked in a deep breath as his cock pulsed against her, seeing stars when he leaned up out of her grasp to kiss her neck. As his teeth raked over her skin, she bucked her hips against him, relishing the way his hard length slid against her. Though she had of course found him incredibly attractive and had even occasionally fantasized about what it would be like to be with him, nothing she’d felt before had ever come close to the intense, carnal  _ need _ for him that she’d developed for him the night before when she consciously felt his arousal against her for the first time. It was as if something had flipped inside of her, and it made her realize once and for all that he was definitely,  _ definitely _ not a kid anymore. He’d slowly and quietly grown into a man, and she wanted him now, wanted him in every different way possible. 

“I kept thinking about you today,” he sighed softly against her neck.

“Is that different from any other day?” she quipped easily, squealing when he bit down teasingly on her neck in return. As he kissed her to soothe the skin there, she admitted, “I thought about you all day too—differently from usual.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked. She could hear the grin on his voice as he spoke. “What did you think about then?”

“Aang,” she groaned, pulling away so that she could see him, beginning to sit up, “I’m  _ sure _ we were thinking about the same thing.” To illustrate her point, she ground her hips against his, the friction between them causing them both to shudder.

“I was thinking about how beautiful you looked last night,” he murmured. Looking up at her, he pulled his hands back to rest her thighs, the heat of his large palms atop her soft skin causing her wetness to spread between them. “I liked what you were wearing, but Katara… your body is so gorgeous. It’s so gratifying to me that you want to share it with me like this.”

“I could say the same about you,” she countered, resting her hands on his chest for leverage as she wiggled her hips over his own, seeking the friction of his arousal sliding against her through thin fabric.

“I’ve wanted this for years,” he replied with a wink, causing her face to heat up. When she became dazed thinking about his handsome winking face and the years he had spent wanting her in such a desperate way that she had never suspected of him, his hands squeezed her thighs gently, the mild pressure bringing her back to the present: his hands mere inches from her center, his hard cock throbbing with need beneath her folds.

Sighing happily, she shifted off of his hips to lie down by his right side, her head level with his hips as she faced him. She supported herself on one elbow to get a better view and tugged on his underwear, looking up at him with a pout. He grinned at her as he lifted his hips, easily tugging the material off, his hard length springing free, causing her breath to catch in her chest at the sight.  _ That _ had perhaps been what surprised her the most: she had been nervous about being so intimate with, well, anyone for the first time, but she was amazed at the way she instantly wanted him and felt a deep, sensual need for him. As he settled back down, she moved her hand up his thigh, watching the way his cock twitched in anticipation of her touch in front of her. He had gotten to see her up close yesterday, and while it had been embarrassing at first, it had also been incredibly erotic and deeply satisfying—for both of them, judging by his arousal afterward. She wanted to try that as well—maybe even more. Finally, her hand slid all the way up his thigh, wrapping her fingers around him, reveling in the way he groaned at their contact. 

“I thought about this,” she told him, looking up at him with a smile. His gaze was fixed on the way her hand moved over him, but he glanced at her then, his eyes deep and full of lust. “I want…” she paused, considering how to phrase her desire. She wanted a lot of things, but right then she wanted to try pleasing him with her mouth; she wasn’t really sure what to do, but she wanted to try, to lick him and kiss him and maybe even take him inside. She ran the tip of her tongue over her lips just thinking about it and glanced up at him to find his grey eyes nearly charcoal with hunger.

“Katara,” he breathed, his voice hoarse, reaching down to run a hand through her soft hair, “I told you: whatever you want.”

She hummed appreciatively at his touch, and he moved his hand to caress her tenderly, his broad palm on her jaw, cupping her face. Pulling away from the warmth of his hand, she pressed a brief kiss to his palm before turning her attention back to his cock, her absent stroking becoming more intentional. Finally, still holding him in her hand, she leaned in to lick a firm stripe from the base to the tip, marveling at the way his salty, velvety skin felt beneath her tongue. She felt her face flush as the heat grew between her legs, flooded with her own arousal. Then her eyes drifted up to meet his, and she nearly melted at the intensity reflected there. Leaning back down, she pressed a wet kiss to the head of his cock, shivering when he purred her name, his hand sliding back into her hair against her scalp. She worked to find a rhythm between her hand and the kisses and gentle licks she gave him, savoring the way he moaned each time her lips touched him.

Ultimately, she decided to go for it, running her tongue along her lips to moisten them before dipping her head down to take just the head of his cock into her mouth. He cried her name in surprise, his fingers tightening against her scalp, and she marvelled at how big he felt in her mouth, how incredibly intimate it was to please him like this. Gently, she pulled back a little bit and ran her tongue over him inside of her mouth, exploring the edges of his mushroomed head, the salty slit at the top, and then suddenly she felt fuzzy all over thinking about the way he had come on her hand the night before. 

Continuing to stroke him wherever she could not fit in her mouth, she carefully lowered her mouth down onto him further, sliding her tongue along him as she went. Her name left his lips like a prayer as she moved, his fingers tight in her hair at the back of her head, not tugging her further down, just holding onto her in his state of bliss, and besides, she found that she didn’t really mind having her hair pulled a little bit, not when it was because he was writhing with pleasure beneath her as a result of her attention.

“ _ Fuck _ ,” her ears picked out among his unintelligible groans of pleasure, surprising her, as he never cursed; the sound of it fanned the flames of the fire building between her legs. “Katara, you’re so amazing,” he gasped, his hips jumping lightly beneath her mouth when she pulled back before pressing forward to take as much of him as she could once more. Watching him lose his composure excited her to no end, and as she moved to find a regular pace between her mouth and hand, she enjoyed the way he sometimes bucked against her despite his obvious attempts to hold back, the way he said her name like she was something holy. 

“I’m getting close,” he murmured, giving a gentle tug at her hair. His words shot electricity through her body; she wanted to bring him to his release so badly. He moaned when she sped up her movements, eager to bring him over the edge. He gave another gentle tug at her hair, and added, warningly, “Katara…”

Gazing up at him, she sunk her mouth down as far as she could onto him, nearly choking at the way the tip of his cock brushed the roof of her mouth. She bobbed her head in his lap, seeking out his little whimpers, cries of her name, and deep, throaty moans. 

“Katara,” he moaned, pulling at her hair near her scalp. She was amazed at how good it felt and hummed in pleasure. Their eye contact was so intense, an extension of their physical intimacy. “I’m  _ really _ close,” he warned again, his jaw clenched from the effort of trying to keep his hips still.

Willing him to understand, she looked at him purposefully as she moved, swirling her tongue around his length as she went, appreciating the way it throbbed in her mouth with his oncoming orgasm. Finally, with a sharp cry of her name, he was spilling out into her mouth, and she swallowed each pulse as he came, her wetness soaking through her panties as she felt his climax, the way his cock throbbed deliciously in her mouth. When his muscles finally began to still, she released him from her mouth with an audible  _ pop _ , looking up at him, all flushed cheeks and swollen lips. She could taste him in the back of her mouth, salty and bitter and burning her throat, a little, but that couldn’t touch her high. 

“Come here,” he said, his voice soft and sweet as his hand slid from her hair to caress her cheek tenderly. She did as he requested, shifting herself up on the mattress until she was lying next to him, their eyes level. As soon as she was settled, he pulled her in for a kiss, his lips so gentle against her own. When he pulled away, he leaned his forehead on her own again. “I love you so much, Katara. I really want to do that for you too,” he told her, his eyes glistening with resolve, “I wanted to so badly last night.” She felt her face heat up, immediately thinking of his head between her legs, his tongue against her. 

“Aang,” she groaned when he gently flipped her onto her back, his hand moving down her toned stomach, tickling her as he went. He grinned when she giggled, and then he hooked his fingers into her panties.

“Lift your hips, Sweetie,” he told her quietly. When she did so, he tugged the material easily down her legs, discarding it at the foot of the bed. He started to lay back down next to her, and she looked at him, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but he just offered her a reassuring smile and ran his hand along her hip.

Leaning in, he kissed her as his hand slid through the hair between her legs until his fingertips met the tip of her slit. She sighed against him when he began circling her clit, where he remained for a moment before dipping his fingers down along her folds. He pulled away moaning when he found her entrance. 

“Oh, Katara,” he groaned, spreading her wetness up to her sensitive nub of pleasure to lubricate the stimulation he provided her there. She saw stars as he did, her hips bucking against his hand of their own accord. He looked at her with such need in his eyes. “This is from what you did for me?” He asked, awed. 

She nodded, biting her lip, gripping his shoulder with her hand as his fingers slid back down to prod gently at her entrance. Two of his fingers slipped inside easily, and she moaned, thrusting her hips up into his touch. “Sweetie,” he sighed, pumping his fingers in and out of her. His lips trailed across her cheek to her neck, where he kissed her pulse point gently.

His fingers felt heavenly inside of her, but she wanted more. Raising her hips to meet his hand again, she arched her neck, giving him more space to kiss her. “Aang,  _ please _ .”

Sitting up on one elbow, he looked at her, eyes dark as he took in her flushed, wanting expression. With one last gentle kiss, he lowered himself to the mattress between her legs, lying down on his stomach this time, his face directly between her parted thighs. He sighed heavily as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to the soft patch of hair there. 

“Can you put your legs over my shoulders?” he asked softly. Flushing, she did as he said, the hard muscles of his shoulders hot beneath her legs. He curled his arms around her thighs, his upper arms beneath them, his hands reaching just where they met her pelvis. When he exhaled deeply, she could feel his breath hit her hot center and whimpered involuntarily. 

Finally, he leaned in and gingerly lapped at her folds, his hot, smooth tongue so delightfully foreign against her. She loved the way she could feel his breath against her as he moved, tickling as his tongue prodded at her, leaving a trail of fire where he went. He stopped her when she started to squirm, his hands firm on her thighs as he held her in place, and she whispered his name pleadingly as she reached down, wrapping a hand around the back of his head. Gently, he began to flick the tip of his tongue against her clit, making her head swim with exquisite bliss. 

“Oh, Aang, yes,” she whimpered, reaching to grasp the blanket in her other hand, desperate for something to hold onto as he lapped relentlessly at her spot of pleasure. Wrapping her legs around him, her ankles crossed over his back between his shoulder blades, her thighs tightening over his head. She lifted her hips up into him, enjoying the way he shivered in response. As his fingertips clutched her thighs, he licked his way down her wet lips until the tip of his tongue was pressing at her entrance, all hot, smooth muscle against her own. “Aang,” she begged, “Please,  _ please _ .”

While he held her tightly, she watched the arrow on his forehead bob as he thrust his tongue into her again and again, filling her as much as he could with each press forward. She bucked her hips helplessly against his mouth, but he seemed to enjoy it, moaning and sinking his nails into her thighs each time. With his mouth against her entrance, she felt each of his exhales, hot against her slick folds. She needed more still, but wasn’t sure how to ask or even what to ask for. She whimpered desperately as one particularly deep plunge of his tongue sent an electric shockwave of pleasure through her. Bucking against his face again, she pulled him closer to her with her hand around the back of his head, letting his responsive visceral moan wash over her. When he pulled away just enough to lift his head to look at her, she made a soft noise of protest. Her own juices coated his lips and his chin, glistening on his skin, and her vision went hazy.

“Tell me what I can do for you, Sweetie,” he said, pressing a kiss just above her clit. “What do you want?”

Unable to think of an answer, she was silent for a long moment until he scooted out from under her.

“Hey! Definitely not that,” she objected cheekily. He grinned at her as he stood before kneeling down on the floor at her bedside. She sat up, looking at him curiously.

“Come here,” he murmured. When she didn’t move, unsure of what he was asking her, his smile softened, his hand reaching out to rest on her thigh. “Katara,” he added. She watched him lick her juices off of his lips, and her breath caught in her chest. “I’m not done. Come here.”

Finally, she understood, flushing as a fresh wave of arousal flooded her center at his words. She turned to face him and let him lift her thighs over his shoulders again, her hands returning to the back of his head as he leaned back in to resume his efforts. Wrapping her legs around him, she relaxed against him, his left arm wrapped around her thigh once more to support her. This time, as he leaned in to kiss her sensitive clit, his two fingers nudged gently inside of her, sliding effortlessly within her slick walls. She moaned loudly at the sensation, her mind filled with nothing but static as he lapped endlessly at her spot of pleasure. 

“Aang,” she whimpered, digging her fingertips into the back of his head and neck, where she held him close. She rocked against him as he thrust into her, stunned by the delicious sensation of him stretching her each time he entered. She couldn’t help but let her mind drift again to having not his fingers inside of her but his own arousal, their foreheads pressed together as he filled her; part of her was afraid that it would hurt after seeing how big he was and feeling the size of him in her mouth, but mostly she was just excited to be with him in that way. For now, his tongue and lips and fingers worked tirelessly against her. Though he made some small sounds when she bucked against him, she could hardly hear them over her own cries of pleasure, her nails digging into the back of his neck, begging him to understand how badly she wanted him inside of her. 

Just his fingers felt so good, though, and combined with his tongue working over her clit, the very idea that his mouth was on her in such a private, intimate way, she felt dizzy with arousal, all of the stimulation he provided building up thrillingly inside of her. “Oh, Aang,” she gasped again, her hand sliding over his head. His fingers squeezed her hip gently, a small affectionate gesture that almost made her pounding heart stop. 

Then with pin-point focus, the feeling of his mouth moving on her took over her mind, his tongue pressing repeatedly against her, his fingers pumping into her again and again. Her peak came suddenly, smashing over her like the relentless waves at high tide, unable to control the way her thighs squeezed his head or his name spilled from her mouth over and over, near reverential in tone. It felt like forever before she began to be able to see again through the fog of pleasure, his warm tongue continuing to lap at her folds. She sighed heavily, filling her lungs with much needed air, and then let herself drop back down to the mattress, his head still buried between her legs. He stayed there for a moment before moving to join her, nudging her until she shifted up against the pillows, lying down beside him. The look he held in his eyes as he watched her said so much more than he ever could with words, and she smiled softly at him.

“I love you,” she murmured, “Aang… I can’t feel my legs.”

He laughed softly, leaning in to press a kiss to the top of her head to hide his flushing cheeks. “Good,” he replied, his grin evident in his voice. Despite the sweet way he cuddled against her, she could feel his arousal, the hard length of his cock prodding her thigh enticingly.

“That felt really incredible,” she admitted, flushing when she felt his smile broaden against her forehead. “I’ve never felt that good before in my life… but for some reason, I still want more,” she murmured, running a hand over his chest.

“Katara,” he laughed softly as she rutted her hips into his own, his arms wrapping around her to hold her close. “Give yourself a minute, Sweetie. Are you sure?”

“I want you,” she murmured, thinking of what he had told her regarding the air nomads’ beliefs about love. “If we both want each other, why should we wait?”

He was quiet against her for a minute, his hand caressing her back absently. “We don’t have to,” he said softly, “But there’s a difference between holding ourselves back for the sake of it and taking our time to enjoy one another.”

“Do you want to wait?” She asked, looking up at him hopefully.

“No,” he told her honestly, his eyes charcoal as he watched her, “I just don’t want you to feel like we have to rush because of what I said.”

“Aang,” she sighed, “It’s not because of what you said. It’s because I can’t stop thinking about it.” When his face turned red, she grinned, continuing softly, “Everytime we touch each other, I just want you inside of me.”

“ _ Katara _ ,” he moaned at her words, his cock throbbing against her thigh. She felt her overstimulated center flood with heat once more. “I feel the exact same way. I’ll make love to you if you want—there’s nothing in the world I’d rather do.”

His words were so sweet, yet at the same time, they were fiery enough to make her heart throb in her chest, heat flaring in her stomach. “Aang,” she breathed again, “Really? Tonight?”

“If you want to,” he murmured, nuzzling the tip of his nose against hers tenderly. “I’m yours, Sweetie. I’ve always been yours.”

She felt like crying at the sincerity in his words; she never doubted his love or feelings for her, but she  _ had _ been unsure about his ability to be in a relationship, to be  _ anyone _ ’s. It seemed silly now though, the thought that they could try to fight the deep connection they had. He  _ was _ hers, and she wanted him so badly.

Now that he was there in front of her, ready for her, she paused, unsure of where to start. Aang leaned in to kiss her in her hesitation, his lips moving smoothly against her own, musky and tangy from her own juices. She hooked a leg over his thighs, and in one, effortless motion, he flipped her onto her back, hovering over her between her legs. Whimpering into their kiss, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her legs around his hips, clinging to him. While he supported himself on one elbow, his other large, warm hand held her up beneath her lower back as she arched into him, his hard length grinding against her wet center. 

“Katara,” he pulled away to moan, looking into her blue eyes. She looked up at him pleadingly, hoping to convey her certainty to him. He must have felt reassured by whatever he saw there as he leaned in to press another kiss to her lips. Moving his hand from her back, he reached between them and lined himself up with her entrance, looking into her eyes once he was in position. He wrapped his arm around her again, supporting her, her ankles hooked around his lower back. She wiggled her hips lightly against him and he smiled at her through a groan of pleasure. “Tell me if it hurts at all, okay?”

She nodded impatiently, and he kissed her briefly as if to seal the deal. Carefully, his hips pressed forward, filling her millimeter by millimeter. Katara felt as if she were on fire, every nerve in her body alive with the idea that his arousal was pressing into her, the way he surrounded her so completely as he hovered above her. He moved slowly, pushing his way between her tight, slick walls, filling her with a pleasure-burn as he went. She opened her eyes to look at him, and he was staring at her deeply, his passion for her spilling out intensely through his gaze as he pressed inside of her. When she whimpered, he froze, his expression immediately transforming to one of concern. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked gently.

“It feels really good, Aang,” she replied gently, trying to press her hips forward. Having him in her hand and her mouth had been incredible, exhilarating, but this was different; this felt like he was completing her. He grinned widely, satisfied with her enjoyment, and pressed a kiss to her forehead before pushing forward the rest of the way to fill her completely.

It felt indescribable to have him inside of her; they were connected so lovingly and intimately, as close as possible. His grey eyes bore into her own, full of wonder, and she stared back at him, amazed herself by the way it felt to have her muscles stretched around him, his cock filling her. They were joined in ways either of them had only ever fantasized about, and it was  _ nothing _ like her own fingers had felt any of those times.

“Katara,” he breathed gently, surveying her face. “Is this okay?”

“Aang,” she replied with a reassuring smile, “It’s  _ incredible _ . I want more,” she said, bucking her hips against his. His eyes darkened in response, and he leaned in to kiss her, his open lips sliding wetly against her own as he carefully pulled back, back, until she could hardly feel him inside of her anymore. Then he slammed forward, filling her in one swift movement, drawing a deep moan from her as his tongue brushed her own. As he found a rhythm, pounding into her again and again, the bed shaking with his efforts, she dug her nails into his back, desperate for him.

“ _ Katara _ ,” he gasped again a moment later, his lips leaving hers suddenly to moan her name. Though her center was beginning to feel sore, it was nothing compared to the pleasure that surged through her each time he entered her. “Oh, I love you so much, Sweetie, you feel so amazing,” he sighed against her, kissing along her jaw as his hips snapped against her own. She could not understand how he was doing so much because she felt completely boneless beneath him, clinging to him desperately.

“I love you too,” she purred, punctuated by her _ huff _ s each time he pushed forward to fill her as she ran her nails over his shoulder blades. Her back arched involuntarily beneath him. She moaned at the delicious slide of his arousal pressing into her, the way he kissed his way down her neck, messily, using his teeth, leaving her gasping. “Aang…”

She watched helplessly as he shifted, still rocking his hips against her own, until he was leaning down into her chest, his face level with her breasts, and then he was kissing one of her nipples, so softly in contrast to the rapid movement of his hips with her own.

“Ah,” she cried out, her nails scratching deeply down his back, “ _ Aang _ !” 

She looked down at him to see the look of mischief in his silver eyes, glinting as they made contact with her own. Gently, he began to flick his tongue over the now-hardened bud of her nipple, in perfect time with the way he filled her quickly, over and over; she could see the tip of his pink tongue darting out from between his lips. The combined stimulation left her reeling, and she bucked beneath him, attempting to meet each of his thrusts despite his hand on her back, holding her in place. It was dizzying, such a wildly different sensation than any other sexual pleasure she’d felt before, either in the last two days or on her own; she didn’t feel the same pressure building up as if she were working towards a climax, but it still felt mind-numbingly good, like she never, ever wanted it to stop, particularly when his lips closed around her nipple and sucked gently.

“Katara,” he sighed against her chest, placing a few kisses between her breasts. “Tell me what to do for you—this is so good,” he panted, his fingertips digging into her flesh with tantalizing pressure behind her, “I’m getting close already but I want you to feel good too,” he whispered into her, his voice tender.

“Aang,” she hummed gently, sliding her hand up to caress the side of his face lovingly as he nuzzled into her, his hips still moving rhythmically above her. “I  _ do _ ,” she reassured him, lifting her hips into him for emphasis, “I want you to come.”

He moaned loudly into her chest at her words, holding her tightly to him as he sped up, his movements becoming uneven. She could feel his fast and harsh breath against her skin as he filled her, over and over, bringing himself closer with each thrust. It thrilled her to no end, and she arched into him eagerly, aching to feel him come inside of her. Running her nails over his back, she murmured a small plea and dug her heels further into his lower back, holding herself tightly against him until all he could do was rock against her. She was amazed by the way she could feel him throbbing, his muscles rippling all over with his oncoming climax. 

“Please,” she begged him softly, digging her nails into him again. He whimpered in response and surprised her by lifting his head to kiss her, his lips hot and wet and passionate against her own. Raising herself up against him, she pressed her breasts tightly to his chest as she kissed him back, sliding her tongue warmly against his own, reveling in the way he moaned into her as his hips moved frantically with her own. Driving himself deeply inside of her, he pulled away from their kiss with a gasp, leaning his forehead against hers. They groaned each other’s names in perfect unison as she felt his cock begin to pulse inside of her with his orgasm, his arm tight around her back, her nails scratching deep red lines down his shoulder blades. Though she was not coming herself, it felt so intensely amazing, his pleasure completely palpable. His breath huffed against her as wave after wave of climax rolled over him, and she basked in his pleasure, the way he whimpered against her lips, the way he throbbed inside of her, his release filling her with an exquisite sensation.

“Katara,” he breathed again once his onslaught of pleasure had subsided, gently lowering her to the mattress so that he could pull out of her. He grinned at her whimper of protest, shifting to the bed next to her, pulling her up against his chest. One of his arms wrapped around her back, running beneath her waist as they lie on their sides facing one another. He rested his other hand on her hip gently. “That was… wow. But you didn’t—do you want me to…?” He asked, trailing off as he slid his hand down over her thigh, a wordless offer.

“No,” she breathed, reaching for his hand. She brought it up to her mouth and kissed the back of it, watching the way his eyes shined in response. “I’m okay. Aang… that was amazing,” she sighed, releasing his hand to caress his cheek. His pale skin was hot with his flush beneath her fingers. “I do feel a little sore, but it’s nothing in comparison to how good that felt.”

“I told you to tell me if it hurt,” he insisted softly, his eyebrows furrowed in concern, “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t want you to stop,” she murmured, looking up into his eyes. When she shifted her hips against him, she smiled a little at the sensation between her legs, slightly irritated and  _ very  _ wet. “I think… maybe you could’ve been a little gentler,” she teased carefully, “But I think I needed that. I don’t mind being sore tomorrow—it’ll just make me think of you,” she added slyly.

“I’m sorry,” he told her, then stopped mid sentence with an apologetic smile when she glared at him.

“Maybe we can try to go slower next time,” she offered instead, laying a hand on his chest to feel his warmth. His heart was pounding beneath her palm, his eyes unfocused at the words ‘next time’. “Like… maybe tomorrow morning,” she suggested, smirking.

He laughed, tugging her close enough that he could bury his nose in her hair, pressing a kiss to her scalp. “Katara,” he said, his voice smooth and sweet over her name, “That’s a  _ really _ nice thought, but I just don’t see you getting up early enough.”

Though he was right, she liked the thought of twisting in their sheets together, bathed in the morning sunlight. “You could try to wake me up,” she purred into him, “I might be amenable if you do it the right way.”

“Oh yeah?” He asked, his hand sliding over her hip, the heat of his skin tingling hers as he went. He moved his hand over her hip bone and down to cup her rear, giving her soft cheek a squeeze. She arched against him again, and he sighed into her hair, kissing her softly atop her head. “You keep surprising me,” he murmured, his voice muffled as he spoke into her.

“What do you mean? Because I want to have sex with you?” she joked, sliding her hand on his chest over his side, around his back to hold him against her. 

“No,” he replied gently, his cheeks flushing, “It’s more… how  _ badly _ you want me. This is stupid, but I’ve always thought that if we got together, it would take time for you to be attracted to me and want to be with me like that.”

Something about that made her very sad, and she inched back just enough to look at him with big, doleful blue eyes. “Oh, Aang… I told you—”

“I know now,” he said, flushing softly just as his face had been beginning to return to its normal color. “Still, it’s amazing to get such visceral reminders of how much you feel attracted to me in the same way I’ve felt about you for so long.”

“It’s never been about that,” she said softly, soothingly, though she hoped he already knew it was true, running her nails gently over his back as she spoke. Though she’d loved him in some form nearly since the day she’d met him at 14, it wasn’t until just after her 17th birthday that he’d had his first major growth spurt and surpassed her in height that she began to see him differently. That was when his muscles had filled out until his breathtaking strength was evident just by looking at him; it was also when it became impossible for her to deny that he was no longer a child. Around that time, after a particularly heated sparring match between the two, she’d had her first dirty dream about him. She hadn’t been able to  _ not _ notice his attractive, lean muscles and broad, strong shoulders ever since.

“Are you sure?” he teased gently, “Never? I had to avoid practicing water bending with you for a while when I was around fourteen or fifteen because it was a little, ah, too exciting for me at the time.”

She paused, considering. He had been weird and twitchy with her a lot over the years as a result of his feelings for her, to the point where it was just another of their easy interactions, no awkwardness involved, and it was difficult to remember each instance. Of course, she’d noticed the way his breath caught or he shivered when he touched her while practicing—he had been doing that since they were twelve. There were even a few times where she was sure she caught a suspicious looking bulge in his pants, but he had generally done an excellent job of hiding his sexual desire for her, if not so much his romantic interest. 

Finally, glancing up into his eyes, she smiled softly. “I don’t remember that, but I definitely did enjoy it when our sparring would turn you on, even when you were younger,” she said, causing his face to flush red.

“You noticed?” he asked, mortified. She laughed, stretching up to press a kiss to the tip of his nose.

“Sometimes,” she admitted, “I felt the same way a lot of the time, though.”

Gently, his hand moved from its place resting on the soft flesh of her rear to run his fingers through her hair before cupping her cheek. “I love you,” he murmured, his voice soft as he leaned in, their faces almost touching in the darkness of the room, interrupted only by the dim moonlight. “Thank you for trusting me to work with you.”

“I’ve always trusted you, Aang,” she said quietly. His eyes were closed, so she shut hers as well and leaned forward to rest her forehead against his. He sighed happily, his breath blowing out between them. Cuddling beneath the covers with her in the afterglow of their multiple climaxes, he felt so warm and content and in love. It felt  _ so _ thrilling to connect with her, not just physically but emotionally, a deeper kind of intimacy that felt better than sex itself. It was something they had danced around for  _ years _ and it felt incredibly gratifying to finally be able to indulge in her. Gently, he leaned forward to kiss her, guiding her to his lips with his hand on her cheek. She hummed happily beneath him, her lips beginning to move against his own, soft and warm and loving. He only kissed her for a moment before he pulled away.

He wanted to tell her how many of his fantasies she had fulfilled that night but couldn’t find a genuine way to express himself with words. Before he could collect himself, she kissed his nose softly to get his attention, smiling sweetly at him as she pulled back. “I’m really glad that you didn’t want to wait,” she admitted.

He hadn’t expected her to say that, and flushed with pleasure as he considered her statement. Everything about her posture oozed relaxation and contentment, from her slack arm resting over his side to her head resting on the pillow, her well-kissed neck and her hair, all ruffled from… well. He stroked his thumb gently over her cheek and watched it redden as well under his touch, revealing her embarrassment at his silence after her admission.

“I’ve  _ never _ wanted to wait,” he said finally, grinning when her blush deepened.

“You’re the one who keeps telling me to be patient,” she insisted, her voice lacking any edge as she moved her arm from around him to trail her warm fingertips over his chest muscles. 

“Maybe you should meditate with me more,” he teased, caressing her hair comfortingly when she glared at him. “This is sort of what I was trying to say the other day—there’s a difference between slowing down to be present in the moment and denying yourself something simple that you want and can so easily have.”

“I think some people would consider taking things slow in a more long term sense to be a sort of way to feel present,” she argued, her nails scratching so gently over his chest that he shivered against her, causing her to smirk.

“I guess I felt just as impatient as you, then,” he breathed, leaning in to kiss her jawline. He could feel the way her chest froze against his as her breath was knocked away by his easy surrender. 

Eventually, after a moment of enjoying his idle petting of her hair, his lips moving against her jaw, she said softly, “I’d meditate with you if it didn’t have to be so early in the morning.”

He laughed softly, a deep chuckle against her ear that sent a hot, fresh wave of arousal through her. “It doesn’t,” he said, “Morning meditation is kind of a ritual—and it’s the only time I can actually get some peace—but we can do it together anytime, Sweetie,” he told her, somewhat excited about the idea until he pulled back to see her face and the hesitation and lack of excitement lingering on her features. “Or not,” he added with a grin.

“We can try…” she sighed, moving her hand down his chest to cup his muscular hip, “But I have a feeling I would get pretty distracted.”

He laughed again, louder this time, as he thought about her trying to sit still next to him in silence for so long after her relentless impatience in bed that night. Though he had never known her to be patient when it came to getting what she wanted, he’d never seen the same level of desperation from her that she’d displayed that night as he’d worked her to her climax. Shaking off the vivid, recent memory, he smiled reassuringly at her. “I wouldn’t mind that,” he said, winking at her, causing her cheeks to redden again. As she watched him, he picked up on a small level of tension remaining in her expression and became more serious. “But I’m just kidding, Katara. I’m not at all expecting you to start picking up Air Nation cultural practices. I just want to enjoy our time together without worrying about what other people do or think. I want to enjoy finally having you, Sweetie.”

“Aang,” she sighed simply, touched by his unnecessary explanation. “That sounds like a dream, but _ I _ want to learn more about your culture; I don’t care what other people think, but I do care what you think.”

“I don’t want you to change,” he insisted, caressing her cheek delicately, “Definitely not for me.”

“I’m not saying I’m ever going to get up at six in the morning every day or become a vegetarian, but I think it would be nice to try to meditate together once in a while or… I don’t know, try more vegetarian meals with you sometimes,” she said, flushing as the intensity of his gaze grew.

“Katara,” he breathed, grinning as he watched her blush, “I don’t care what you eat. I love you so much. I can’t believe you’d offer that; you’re so precious.”

Her cheeks darkening, she readjusted to shift closer to him on the pillows, stopping only once their noses were nearly touching. “That was how I felt when you told me that you’d come back home with me for a while to help rebuild,” she said, her eyes shining as she looked at him. Then, smiling, she added, “I know how uncomfortable sleeping on the furs makes you feel.”

“It doesn’t bother me the same way it used to,” he admitted. Though he definitely could not imagine ever owning his own, it was part of Katara’s heritage and a practice central to the culture—and survival—of all of her people. The way he perceived their relationship with nature had changed over the years as he’d grown and begun to see more gray areas in the world. It was not the same as dragon hunting in the Fire Nation or illegal exotic animal trade in the Earth Kingdom; the Water Tribe respected the animal and used every part of it. Though he still didn’t exactly approve of it, there was something responsible about the way they killed that made it different, not just a senseless exploitation of nature. Besides, now whenever he saw items fashioned out of animal skins in Water Tribe style, he thought of Katara and Sokka; it felt like home. Finally he added, “Actually, I’m sure it’ll be much more comfortable with you.”

“I bet my dad would love that,” she responded, raising an eyebrow at his unchanging expression. “It’s really not customary for couples to spend the night together until they’re betrothed,” she explained.

“I know,” he murmured, running his thumb over her bright red cheek. It did nothing to help her blush. Though they had spoken about their certainty of their future with one another on the beach the other morning, it was another thing entirely to discuss the logistics of committing to one another so soon. Still, he was sure what he wanted and saw no point in not being honest. He surveyed her loving expression for a moment before adding, “I know we haven’t really talked about this yet... but I want that, Sweetie. At least one day.”

“Aang,” she whispered, leaning into his neck to hide her massive grin, “I want whatever you want; I know how I feel. It doesn’t change anything for me.”

“Maybe it won’t change how we feel,” he said, his hand slipping back into her hair, closing his eyes as she cuddled into him, “But I want everyone to know that you’re mine.”

“Am I?” she asked somewhat sardonically, tensing almost imperceptibly as he combed his fingers slowly through her waves. 

“And I’m yours,” he added confidently, kissing her temple.

Sighing in satisfaction, she softened against him once more, her breasts pressing into his chest with each breath she took. Her skin felt hot everywhere it met his, a novel reminder of the way they had connected that night. As he continued running one hand comfortingly through her hair, he felt her breathing begin to slow and even out, his hand rubbing her back when he reached the ends of her strands. Though she had slept in his arms the night before, it felt different then: she melted so casually against him now, as if their intimacy was as natural as breathing or waterbending. 

“Good night, Sweetie,” he murmured against her, pressing one last kiss to her forehead before curling his arm tightly around her, his own exhaustion catching up with him.


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, Aang’s feeble attempts to wake her up with hot kisses to her neck, as he had predicted, did nothing but annoy her. He instead escalated his strategies and prepared her a hot bath to wake up to, sure she would appreciate it after the previous night. Katara’s bathroom in their Republic City house had a massive bathtub that, while he had fantasized about before, he had never used and was excited at the prospect of doing so with his gorgeous girlfriend. He made quick work of heating the water and was ready to try again, armed with a bribe to pry her from the warm blankets this time. 

When he reached the side of her bed once more, the bathroom door slightly ajar in the corner, waiting for them, she looked so angelic that he almost didn’t want to disturb her. Her wavy brown hair was sprawled wildly against the sheets behind her head, her long eyelashes set against her cheeks, her eyes closed as she slept. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he reached in to brush a stray strand of hair out of her face.

“Sweetie,” he said. Her eyebrows wrinkled, but she remained asleep. With a sigh, he leaned down to kiss her, first on the tip of her nose and then on her lips. She shifted beneath him, and he placed his hand on her bare shoulder, caressing her soft skin gently. “Katara, Sweetie,” he said again, grinning at his success as her eyes fluttered open, bright cerulean in the morning sunlight. “Good morning,” he told her gently.

“Ugh,” she complained, pulling the blanket over her head, “No.”

Laughing, he nudged her over and lay down next to her. Giving a tug at the blanket covering her, he said softly, “But I have a warm bath ready for us.”

Her struggling stopped, and he smiled as he tugged the blanket away from her to reveal her face, flushed, eyes now wide open as she looked at him. “Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad,” she murmured sleepily, “But wouldn’t it just be better to stay in bed?”

He shook his head at her despite his helpless grin. She tried halfheartedly to tug him back towards the bed, but when he didn’t budge, she allowed him to nudge the covers off of her, scooping her up in his arms. As he carried her into the bathroom, she kissed his neck sleepily, enjoying the warmth of his skin. 

“Katara,” he sighed, gently lowering her into the massive bathtub. Her body immediately relaxed beneath the water, surrounded by her native element, and he climbed in behind her, scooping her boneless body into his arms. She still smelled like sex; it made him dizzy. “How is this?”

“This is very nice,” she hummed, relaxing back into his chest. After a moment, she added, “Though not exactly what I meant.”

“I think we would’ve been in bed all day if I’d tried what you meant,” he murmured into her ear before kissing her there softly.

“What’s wrong with that?” she asked innocently, slipping just slightly further beneath the water. When he nuzzled into the top of her head, her hair was so soft and smelled so perfectly like her. He pressed a kiss there, too.

“Nothing, except Sokka would probably kill me, and we have things to do today,” he said with a small smile. “We have some time, though,” he added, sliding one hand up her stomach, over her ribs. He felt her breath heave beneath his touch and grinned in victory. 

“ _ Oh _ ,” she said simply as a sudden rush of arousal swept over her, finally awake enough to realize that he was, in fact, seducing her. His cock twitched against her rear as if to illustrate her discovery, and her breath hitched in her chest. “Okay. Maybe this is what I meant after all.”

He chuckled into her hair. She spread her legs just slightly in his lap, and he traced his hand the rest of the way up to cup her breast, his other hand moving down between her newly parted legs. Her body was so soft and pliant beneath his touch, deeply relaxed by the hot bath and her lover’s embrace. Gently, his fingers slipped between her folds, circling her sensitive spot at the tip. She groaned, sinking further into his arms, and whimpered, “How did you get so good at this so fast?”

“Because you make such delicious sounds when you like what I’m doing,” he purred into her ear, closing his eyes as he felt the slickness spreading over her lips, thicker and hotter than the water around them. “I’m guessing you feel better this morning, then?”

“Mmh… let’s find out,” she answered as she opened her legs further. Sliding his fingers down, he pressed two into her entrance, shuddering at the way she moaned against him. 

“Yeah?” he asked softly, grinning, “That feels good?”

“Aang,” she huffed, then keened as he pinched her nipple gently with his other hand. She reached for his thigh, digging her fingers in. “Oh spirits… it’s a little bit sensitive but it just— _ Ah _ ,” she gasped mid sentence as he thrust three fingers firmly inside of her. Her walls stretched to accommodate him easily; she was so wet that he met little resistance, and his cock throbbed behind her again, causing her to whimper. 

“It just reminds me of last night,” she continued finally, her voice nearly a whisper. “Please.”

“I want to make sure you’re ready,” he murmured, continuing to fill her with his three fingers, over and over, “I don’t want to hurt you again.”

“You didn’t hurt me,” she protested, bucking against his hand to illustrate her point, “ _ Please _ .”

“Katara,” he hummed into her ear, causing her to shiver against his chest, “Be patient.”

“Ugh,” she complained, sick of hearing him say that to her. Gripping his thigh harder for leverage, she wiggled her hips back against him until he was moaning into her ear. “I don’t want to.”

“You were asleep ten minutes ago,” he teased her as his fingers slipped from her entrance before running along the length of her slit, flicking his fingers gently over her clit as he reached the front. She cried his name out and reached behind him to grab at his back, trying to pull him closer, though she already ground into his hard length each time she moved her hips.

“Now I’m awake,” she countered, trying to turn her head to see him despite their proximity, “And I want you.”

With a soft growl, he leaned forward to capture her lips against his own, her neck craned around as far as possible in a bid to get closer. It was difficult to reach, so she pulled away before long, sitting up with a huff, slipping out of his grasp as she moved. He watched, enamored, as she turned to face him before settling back down into his lap; in the large bathtub, her knees fit neatly on either side of his hips as she sat, winding her arms instinctively around his neck. 

“Much better,” she said with a sigh before dipping forward to kiss him again. As he wrapped his arms around her waist, her tongue slid tenderly against his lips. Using his shoulders for support, she thrust her hips into his as they kissed, humming into him when his cock slid against her center.

“Please,” she murmured against his lips, savoring the way his hand moved over her back, “Aang.”

“Sweetie,” he sighed when she sat up on her knees. Removing one hand from her back, he reached between them to line himself up with her entrance. She groaned and began to lower herself onto him, slowly and uncertainly at first. He held her hips, his fingers sinking into her skin as he filled her, tightening his jaw as he tried to keep from thrusting up into her. 

“You feel so good,” he whispered, looking into her deep blue eyes. Her face was flushed with concentration as she glanced up to meet his gaze, and she smiled softly when she saw the way he was looking at her. Finally, she lowered herself the rest of the way until he was filling her completely.

“This feels different,” she said, her voice thick with desire as she wiggled her hips around experimentally, drawing a long moan from him and a gasp from herself. “Oh, wow… you feel so much bigger from this position,” she added quietly, her cheeks flushing red as she looked up at him through her eyelashes, “Can you feel it?”

“Katara,” he sighed blissfully, sliding his hands from her hips around to the small of her back. She  _ did _ feel tighter from this position, and he needed more. “Please.”

“Please?” she asked, a teasing grin on her swollen pink lips, still raw from his attention the night before. “What do you want?”

“You,” he breathed, leaning in to kiss the corner of her jaw. “You have to move, Sweetie.”

With a soft hum of agreement, she lifted herself up, allowing them both to appreciate the slick slide of her skin against his own. She whimpered as she began to slide back down again, his cock pressing into her tight walls. When he groaned into her ear, his hot breath hitting her face gave her chills. 

“Oh, Aang,” she purred, slowly finding a rhythm to her movements as she rose and fell over him. 

She felt the stretch, the pressure inside of her from his size each time she sat down in his lap; last night, in her arousal, they’d had no difficulty coming together, and he’d slid easily into her. From this angle, he almost felt too big for her, and the constant stimulation made her head spin. His hands slid back to grasp her hips as she moved in his lap. She groaned as she pushed down onto him again, and he pulled back to see her. He looked into her big blue eyes before moving down to survey her breasts, bouncing against her chest as she moved, and he furrowed his eyebrows in pleasure as he took in her stunning figure. 

“Katara,” he breathed, his eyes meeting hers again, “You feel so tight… are you sure this is okay for you?”

She grinned at him through her heaving breath. “It’s  _ incredible _ ,” she said softly, her fingers digging into his shoulders as she gripped him for support, huffing lightly with each of her movements. Gradually, she began to speed up, rising and falling in his lap with a renewed urgency. He groaned, leaning forward to kiss her neck. “Aang… can you touch me?” she added quietly.

“ _ Of course _ ,” he gasped, moving one hand to gently squeeze one of her breasts before running his thumb over her nipple. It was already erect with her arousal, and he enjoyed the way it felt under his finger, the way she whimpered into his ear. “Oh, you’re so gorgeous,” he purred, pressing his lips just below her ear.

“I want,” she sighed, frustrated, and then stopped, unable to come up with an answer for herself. He thrust his hips up into her and she moaned softly right against his ear, raising the hair on the back of his neck.

“What do you want?” he breathed, “Katara…”

Gently, she shifted against him, holding his shoulders for leverage as she arched her back, nudging his shoulders to readjust their position until he lowered himself slightly into the water. Her breasts were in his face, then, and she wound her arms around his neck, riding his lap as his lips pursed around her left nipple, his thumb still playing with her other. She groaned loudly, digging her nails into his back in response as her hips began to move erratically over his own.

“Oh,  _ Aang _ ,” she whimpered, “Please, it’s so good.”

Flicking his tongue over her swollen nipple for a moment, he kissed his way to the valley between her breasts. “You’re incredible,” he purred against her skin, groaning when she ground her hips down into his, “Oh, Katara… you look  _ so _ sexy in my lap like this.”

“Do you like this?” she asked coyly, out of breath, huffing between her words as she moved quickly above him.

“Spirits, yes,” he said with a soft sigh, pressing a kiss to the soft, sweaty skin between her breasts when she moaned quietly at his affirmation. Encouraged, he continued, “Sweetie, you feel so good… I love letting you be in charge, I love when you take the lead, _ I love this. _ ” 

“Aang,” she whimpered simply once again, sliding one hand up to grip the back of his neck, digging her nails into his skin in a way that left behind a delicious kind of pain. Her walls tightened around him and he groaned again, desperate for her oncoming orgasm.

“And I  _ love _ making you feel good,” he added, pausing when her hips shifted as she moved slightly over him, their new position all the more intense. His eyebrows furrowed with his pleasure, and he pulled back to glance up at her, taking in the deep passion in her blue eyes, focused intently on him. “Anything that feels good to you is so sexy to me, Katara. I just want to make you feel good.”

“Kiss me,” she pleaded softly, and immediately he sat up straighter, leaning in to comply with her request. She kissed him back fiercely, her tongue searching desperately for his own. She moaned into his mouth once she found her target, and their tongues moved together sloppily as she rode his lap desperately. Her thighs began to tense on either side of his hips and he held her tightly to him with one hand on her back, the other still touching her breast as she arched into his palm. She whimpered loudly, needily, gripping him tightly as her hips bucked unevenly against his. 

Finally, he felt her walls begin to quiver, convulsing around him as she came. She purred his name desperately against his neck as her muscles fluttered around him, begging him to come with her. Her voice in his ear, her walls throbbing around him, and her nails sinking into his back all pulled him over the edge with her. Groaning into her mouth, he reached his climax with her, releasing himself inside of her as her muscles continued to pulse in pleasure. Her sloppy kiss grew more tender as the intensity of her orgasm began to recede, her touch going from desperate scratches to gentle caresses. 

“Aang,” she hummed in amazement against his lips, finally pulling away in the stillness of the air between them.

“Sweetie,” he replied with a sigh, at just as much of a loss for words as she was. His mind was blank, as if it were filled with cotton, reeling in the aftermath of his climax. She moved slightly over him, and he groaned, moving his hands to grip her hips softly. He lifted her off of him, watching her surprised expression, the way her eyes went unfocused when he slid out of her. “Can you turn around?” he requested, his eyes shining earnestly. Gracefully, she sat up on her knees and flipped around to sit in his lap, her back against his chest. He sighed in pleasure as her round cheeks settled over his still half hard cock beneath the bath water, and she huffed in mock annoyance at his reaction. 

“I didn’t realize that was what you meant,” she teased, adjusting her position seductively in his lap. 

He grinned against her hair, reaching down to still her hips. “It wasn’t,” he assured her, running his fingers through her hair again with one hand, moving it aside to lean down to kiss her neck softly, just once. Sitting up straight, he sent a small blast off air towards her bath sponge, hung on a hook on the wall above them. It fell right into his outstretched palm, and Katara turned her head to look at him, an eyebrow raised in question. 

“I’d planned to do this first,” he explained, examining the bottles of soaps along the ledge of the bathtub. Giggling over him, she reached for one and handed it to him. He shot her a grateful grin and opened it, bending a small amount out and onto the sponge before setting the bottle back down and continuing, “While you were still sleepy. I thought I’d have more time,” he joked.

Gently, he nudged her forward and delicately began to wash her back. She relaxed instantly, sighing beneath his touch. He held her still with one hand on her shoulder as he worked, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head.

“What can I say?” she asked eventually, arching into him as he scrubbed tenderly at her lower back, “You’re too good—I can’t resist.” Though he was tactfully quiet at her unintentionally loaded statement, she laughed at what she’d said, adding, “Not anymore, anyway.”

“I guess I should’ve tried the hot bath sooner,” he said with a smirk, running the sudsy sponge over her shoulders. Her soap smelled so lovely, like delicate flowers, a now overwhelming smell that he usually only caught briefly when close enough to her, mixed with her natural scent, like the ocean and something inexplicably, deliciously  _ Katara  _ that he could not explain. It had been his favorite smell for years, and seeing the source of it and applying it himself felt like learning a sacred secret. Finally, noting her continued silence, he added, “I’m not upset, Sweetie.”

“I know,” she breathed quietly, relaxing back against him as he moved to wash her arms, then her chest, and she shot him a playful look before adding more seriously, “You’ve never been anything but patient.”

“That’s not true,” he countered, “And I learned my lesson.”

“That doesn’t count,” she said, laughing in a soft huff as she leaned her head back against his shoulder, “You were twelve, and you’ve been a perfect gentleman since then—mostly.”

He blushed behind her back, bending the soap off of her loofah before boosting it back up into the air so that it caught on the hook once more as it fell. Then, he bent water up to wet her hair, and she sighed, leaning back into his hands as his fingertips rubbed gently at her scalp, massaging the water in. Before he could turn back to the numerous bottles along the bathtub rim, Katara handed him one over her shoulder, no more teasing left in her relaxed, limp body. He began to massage some shampoo into her hair, and she wiggled her hips in his lap as he did so, causing his cock to twitch against her rear. 

“Katara,” he said, his voice low in mock warning. She shivered as his breath hit her wet ear, his fingers continuing to work against her scalp, lathering the shampoo. It also smelled floral, but sort of different; it reminded him of the warmth of Iroh’s tea shop. 

“Yes?” she responded innocently, shifting her hips again. He sighed, again bending water up to rinse the shampoo from her hair. She leaned back slightly to grant him better access. Rather than responding, he simply worked the suds out of her locks with his fingers, massaging the water against her scalp once more. She moaned in satisfaction at his touch. As he finished, bending the water from her hair, she turned to look at him with a grin. “Do I get to do you next?”

He laughed, leaning forward to kiss her softly. “I just wanted to do something nice for you,” he said as she turned around fully to face him once more in his lap.

“Can’t I do something nice for you too?” she asked, tilting her head adorably. She glanced over at her bottles of soaps and shampoos again and grinned, adding, “Though I only have my bath things here, so I guess you’d end up smelling like flowers.”

“I don’t mind,” he murmured, reaching forward to tuck her newly clean, incredibly soft hair behind her ear. “What’s wrong with that? You always smell incredible.”

Biting her lip to hide her massive smile, she shook her head at him. As she started to try to stand up, he put a hand out on her shoulder and again used a gust of wind to knock her bath sponge down to the water. This time, she caught it, smirking at him. He watched her in reverent silence as she added soap, the way droplets of water ran down her lithe form, from her delicate shoulders to between the curves of her breasts to her flat, toned stomach, all there for him to see. She glanced up when she felt his arousal throb between them again.

“Sorry,” he apologized with a smile, “You’re just so gorgeous.”

“You’ve said,” she teased, beginning to run the sponge over his chest. He immediately relaxed beneath her hands, reclining back against the wall of the bathtub. “I happen to think you’re incredibly sexy, too,” she added in a purr, her eyes on his muscular chest. “And… I think it’s  _ really _ hot when I turn you on.”

Groaning, he leaned forward into her as she soaped his shoulders, kissing her jawline messily. “I love you,” he murmured, unable to help himself. She thrust her hips against his, leaning over him to lather his back, and his hard length slid between her folds, causing them both to make small sounds of need for one another. “Katara…”

“I love you, too,” she responded in kind, kissing his neck once as she craned over his shoulder to see what she was doing. When she finished, she dropped the sponge to the water but remained pressed against him, smoothing her hands over the muscles of his back, touching his scar with a soft sigh.

“Katara?” he asked, a grin on his voice. Reluctantly, she sat up, expertly bending water over him to rinse the suds away. When she was done, she leaned in again, pressing him back against the tub, cuddling into his chest. “Sweetie,” he said gently, “We can’t sit here all day.”

“Just a minute,” she insisted, kissing his neck convincingly. He wrapped his arms around her tightly as they cuddled, enjoying the way she stretched against him.

“Though I want to,” he added, so quietly she nearly missed it, running his short nails over her back. “I do have one more thing I want to do with you after we get out.”

“What’s that?” she asked, lulled back into sleepiness by his comfort.

“You’ll have to get up to find out,” he teased, running his hands down to squeeze her hips. “What do you think?”

She sat up to look at him, her eyes calculating. Without breaking eye contact with him, she shifted her hips over his own, grinding her center against his half-hard cock beneath her, tilting her head in question.

“No,” he insisted with a grin, finally deciding to just scoop her up in his arms as he stood. She bent them dry while he moved out of the tub and then easily wrapped her arms around his neck for extra stability. “Okay?” he asked softly.

When she nodded against his neck, he carried her bridal style out of the bathroom, back into her bedroom. With a quick shot of air, he blew the covers back into place and lay her down atop the bed. She looked at him curiously, leaning up on one elbow to watch him as he walked over to her vanity and once again reached for her bottle of seaweed lotion.

“Aang,” she murmured, softening when she realized what he had planned. Grinning, he sat down next to her, facing her as she shifted, trying to sit.

“Lay down, Sweetie,” he told her, a hand on her shoulder to stop her. When he sat next to her side, she pursed her lips, reaching a hand out for him.

“What if you sat between my legs instead?” she proposed, flushing at her own question, raising an eyebrow at him. All too willing to comply, he smirked at her as she shifted to accommodate him, kneeling between her legs, her thighs in his lap. “Perfect,” she hummed as he ran his fingertips over the sensitive skin of her thighs, leaving a trail of ticklish fire where he went.

“You are,” he countered, reaching for the lotion before she could object to his cheesy compliment. Pumping some into his hand, he warmed it as he had done the other night before reaching for her hand, beginning to work it into the soft skin on her arm.

She was quiet for a moment, and he glanced up in amusement to spot the mild disappointment on her face. Meeting his gaze, she tried, “I thought maybe you’d want to do my back, or maybe my chest.”

“I’ll get there,” he said, smiling at the desperation beginning to build in her expression once more. “Relax.”

“I am,” she protested feebly, allowing her muscles to untense fully as she sank into the mattress. He worked his way over her elbows, her upper arm, and then took another small amount of lotion and, once warmed, began on her other arm. “ _ Ugh _ , Aang.”

“You said that you wanted this,” he reminded her, marveling over how soft and warm her skin was. 

“I was joking,” she said quietly, though he knew she didn’t mean it when her eyes closed and she relaxed into his touch. Finally, he reached her shoulders and began working more warm lotion in there, making his way over her collarbone and chest. She arched beneath him as he began to massage the lotion into her breasts, playing gently with her nipples, still hard and swollen from their time together in the bathtub. “That’s better,” she sighed.

Unfortunately for her, he didn’t linger before making his way down her rib cage. She opened her eyes to glare at him but could not maintain the annoyance in her expression when he smiled so lovingly at her in return. His broad hands worked their way down her stomach, her lean muscles softening as his fingers worked the warm lotion into her skin. “You’re so pretty,” he sighed, resting his hands on her hips as he glanced up at her. She was lying back with her head on the pillows, her face red, her eyes closed, but she opened them to look at him as he spoke. “Do you like this?”

“It feels so nice,” she said, her eyes half lidded. With a teasing grin, she added, “You’re spoiling me, Aang.”

Exhaling slowly, he worked his hands over her hips, the sides of the curves of her ass, her upper thighs. She shivered beneath him as he moved, and he grinned confidently at her. “That’s my goal. I’ve wanted to show you how much I love you for so long, Sweetie. As soon as you suggested this, I knew I wanted to try it for you.” When she just stared at him, his gaze softened. “You’re always doing so much for me, Katara. I think it’s so sexy when I get to be the one doing something for you.”

“Mmh,” she hummed happily, gratefully, as he rubbed her thighs, “I’ve noticed that before, believe me. I don’t know if sexy is always the right word.”

“I love you,” he said, massaging a tight muscle above her knee until it eased up, “It always feels good to be there for you—sexy or not. In this case...” he trailed off, running his hands back up to her hips. Reaching as far back as he could while she was lying down on her back, he smacked her butt playfully, grinning when she squealed and sat up instinctively. “Turn over for me.”

Forgetting her minor annoyance at him for what he had just done, she did as he said, again spreading one thigh on either side of his hips as she lay face down against the pillows. “Good?” she asked.

“Incredible,” he moaned, running his hands over the expanse of bare skin along the back of her thighs, in love with the way they melted seamlessly into the curves of her rear, the way her skin stretched deliciously over her wide hips. His cock throbbed against her thigh, and her breath shuddered beneath him. “Sorry,” he said, resting his hands on her hips, “I can’t help myself—I have quite the view back here.”

She lifted her hips playfully against him. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he took another pump of lotion, heating it carefully in his palm before leaning forward to begin moisturizing her shoulders. Katara lay with her arms folded under her head, which was turned to the side, granting her a partial view of him. “I promise you, I don’t mind,” she purred as he worked, easing back into the blankets beneath his large hands. He felt strong and powerful above her, and the way that he took care of her not because he thought she needed it but because it brought him joy to do so made her heart throb with her love for him; she felt like a fool for managing for so long to miss the maturity and respect in his devotion to her. 

Her back was so soft and delicate under his touch, from her spine to the small bones of her rib cage. She stretched as he worked, arching against his hands, pleased with her massage. Her waist, in particular, felt so small when he went to work the lotion into her skin there, so fragile despite the enormous strength she possessed. “Katara,” he sighed, grinding forward into the soft curves of her rear. She moaned quietly when she felt the full hardness of his arousal press into her.

“Please?” she asked sweetly, looking at him over her shoulder. Smiling at her interest, he shook his head slightly, now moving further down, his hands massaging the curves of her cheeks as she whimpered beneath him.

“Tonight, I promise, Sweetie,” he told her with a wink. Groaning, she turned to bury her face back into the pillows, lifting her hips back into him. “It’s getting late already,” he reminded her, his hands on the backs of her thighs. Though he was almost done, it was so hard to stop touching her. She was so incredibly soft, so warm beneath his touch, so tender and inviting, never mind the sounds she made beneath his hands. It was so easy to imagine spreading her legs just a little bit wider, lifting her hips, pressing forward to fill her—especially when she had asked so nicely. “Do you think you’d want to? Like this?” he asked, running his hands over the curves of her ass.

“Yes,” she gasped, bucking her hips back against him, “Aang…”

“Maybe we can try tonight,” he purred, leaning over her, resting an elbow on either side of her shoulders. Gently, he placed a kiss to her neck, taking in a deep breath to appreciate the floral smell of the soap they had both used that morning. She sighed at the warmth of his body hovering over her, the feeling of his lips moving over her neck, leaving a tingly, wet,  _ hot _ trail where he went. She was just about to suggest that they didn’t have to wait when her bedroom door flew open.

“Katara—AGH!” Sokka yelled, little more than a blur of blue fabric and a ponytail at the door before he was turning around, running in the direction he had come from, yelling unintelligibly. 

Aang made out the words “sister,” “Avatar,” and “oogies” and cringed into Katara’s neck as he heard Suki yell, “SOKKA!” before her hand reached into the room to pull the door shut. 

Katara was frozen beneath him; he climbed off of her gingerly, lying beside her to try to get a better look at her mostly blank face. He could see in the tension beneath her lower lip, the slight wrinkle between her eyebrows, that she was upset despite her lack of reaction. Gently reaching forward, he tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. “That’s kind of why I was rushing us,” he tried to joke, the smile fading from his face when she shot him an icy glare.

“Why can’t he just  _ knock _ ?” she asked, turning to bury her head into the sheets between her arms.

“Well, that’s a fair question,” he said, running his hand over her back soothingly, “This could definitely be a good time to establish more boundaries for privacy.”

“What privacy?” she asked sarcastically, her voice muffled by the covers. He knew that she was right; they lived together in a small house and worked together frequently, always intimately familiar with one another’s actions and feelings. As much as he loved Sokka and Suki, the older they got, the more uncomfortable it became. Aang had not been bothered much by Sokka’s invasiveness prior to beginning his relationship with Katara; however, now she was upset, and that always inevitably pushed him to act.

“We’ll figure it out,” he promised her. “Do you think we should go find him and talk to him?”

“No,” she insisted, picking her head up to look at him again, blue eyes blazing. “He’s the one who burst into my bedroom—I’m not going to go look for him and apologize.”

“I’m not saying we need to apologize—“

“You did say we should go look for him,” she said, “I really don’t see the point. The whole thing is ridiculous. Besides, we were in the middle of something.”

He looked at her for a moment, scrutinizing her big blue eyes. “Are you really still in the mood, Sweetie?” 

“No,” she sighed, flopping onto her side to face him. “He’s  _ such _ a hypocrite.”

“I’m sure Suki is letting him know that,” he told her with a small smile. He could hear Suki’s muffled yelling from downstairs as she chewed Sokka out on their way out of the house and was incredibly thankful to her for helping to defuse the situation. 

“Ugh,” she sighed. After another moment of staring at him morosely, she began to stand up, groaning in disappointment at how the morning had ended. “It’s getting late anyway.”

“That’s not what you were saying a few minutes ago,” he protested mildly, watching her walk towards her wardrobe to take her clothing for the day out. Without saying anything, she shot him an amused look as she began to wrap her chest. Glad that she was not too concerned about what had just happened to be entertained by his teasing, he got up faster than she could react and grabbed her around her waist, lifting her into the air until she squealed.

“Aang! Put me down!”

“You’re so gorgeous,” he sighed, pressing a kiss to her neck before setting her feet back on the floor. Her face was red when he looked at her, and he grinned at her embarrassment. “What are you doing today, Sweetie? Going into the clinic?” he asked her. As she sighed and nodded in response, he turned to take her top out of the armoire, holding it up for her so she could slide her arms in.

Giving him a small smile, she turned around and let him help her dress. He couldn’t help wanting to squeeze every moment he could out of their time together. Though he knew that whatever was waiting for him out there in their divided city would not be particularly pleasant, having her in his arms right then felt like a dream. She watched him quietly as he tied her top, then wound her belt around her waist and tied that, too. Before he could pick up her lower wraps, she grabbed them and began to put them on herself, smirking playfully at him. 

“What are  _ you _ doing today?” she asked curiously. When he smiled nervously at her halfway through pulling his pants back on, her expression immediately fell. “What?” she repeated anxiously.

“Well… I’m meeting with the business council again, with Sokka this time, but I’m sure it will be fine,” he insisted.

She ran a hand through her hair, pacing nervously by the bedside in just her top and lower wraps, her skirt and arm wraps still on the bed. “You are? I didn’t realize you’d have to spend the whole day with him—“

“Katara,” he cut her off. She stopped moving when he stepped forward, and he took her hands in his own. “It’s okay. It’s just a meeting,” he reassured her.

“But you’re going to feel so uncomfortable,” she fretted, her eyebrows furrowed in worry. He smiled at her concern, leaning in to kiss her forehead before stepping back.

“Maybe we’ll figure it out today,” he said optimistically. “Finish getting dressed; I should go get ready too.”

She surveyed him for a moment, worrying, and he dipped forward once more to press a gentle kiss to her lips, interrupting her thoughts. 

“I promise it’ll be okay,” he said again.

“I know,” she replied reluctantly, then gave him a hesitant smile. “Worst case scenario, you could take him easily.”

He shook his head at her with a grin. “Aren’t you supposed to be planning people’s recoveries,” he teased, “Not their injuries? Let me worry about this for today.”

Her eyes sparkled as she looked up at him; he had long been aware of the fondness she had for his close relationship with her brother, comforted by the sense of family that it provided her, but there was something deeper than that in the way she looked at him.

“Okay,” she conceded in a soft murmur, “Thank you; I really appreciate that.” She paused briefly, then continued unenthusiastically, “I think I’m going to head out as soon as I’m dressed—it really is getting late, and I’m sure they’re expecting me.”

“Okay. Goodbye, Sweetie,” he said lovingly as he reached up to cradle her jawline in his hand, caressing her cheek with the pad of his thumb. Then, he dipped forward until he could hear her breath catch in her throat and kissed her. When the tip of her tongue grazed his closed lips pleadingly, he pulled away, laughing at the pout on her lips. “Good luck at work,” he told her, arching an eyebrow as amusement glimmered in his silver eyes, “I’ll see you tonight.”

“You’re the one who’s going to need some extra luck in dealing with my brother,” she said, shooting him a sympathetic smile as she tugged her skirt on despite the distaste in her tone.

“It’s going to be fine,” he reassured her again, pausing halfway out her bedroom door. “I love you; Sokka knows that.” She shot him a cynical look as she wrapped her arms, one eyebrow raised in question at his unfounded optimism. He grinned, convincingly hiding any nerves he may have felt for the situation ahead. Then, he winked at her and watched, pleased, as a pink flush bloomed on her cheeks. “Promise me you’ll try not to think about it too much today.”

“Okay,” she hummed softly, her hands stuttering slightly as she wrapped her wrists, effectively flustered by his attention. “But really—he’s going to be angrier the longer you make him wait.”

“You’re right,” he said with a laugh, glancing again at the window, where the sun was now out in full force. “Love you, Sweetie—we’ll talk as soon as I get home.” He just briefly caught the deep look of affection in her eyes as he turned to go back to own bedroom to change for the day ahead.


	10. Chapter 10

By the time Aang finished getting dressed and made his way downstairs, Katara and Suki were both already gone. Sokka sat on the couch, his arms crossed broodingly, Momo curled up in his lap obliviously. He supposed it was a good sign that they’d waited for him rather than just setting off alone.

“Hey, Sokka,” Aang said nervously. The look he received in return was so dark that it reminded him of the way Katara’s eyes always looked when she was angry, and suddenly he was afraid he made the wrong decision in reassuring her so calmly. “Look, I’m really sorry that happened—“

“My sister!” Sokka burst out suddenly, and Aang jolted in surprise as his friend sprung to his feet, leaning forward threateningly. Momo screamed in surprise at his violent awakening, catapulting from Sokka’s warm lap. Flapping his wings wildly, he regained his balance and glided over to perch on Aang’s shoulder, seeking comfort. A vein throbbed in Sokka’s forehead in his rage; at first, Aang thought he might keep going, but he quickly realized that he was just too upset to formulate a thought.

“Okay,” he tried, holding a hand up to signal his resolute intention to remain calm, “I know you feel weird about it now, but—“

“Now?! I’m never going to be okay with  _ that _ ,” Sokka insisted wildly, throwing his hands in the air.

Taking a moment to consider how to approach the situation, Aang watched as his friend’s face paled, a shudder running through his body as he recalled the scene he’d inadvertently walked in on that morning. Embarrassed, Aang’s cheeks flushed as he tried to justify himself, “We weren’t—”

“I know. Don’t even say it,” Sokka replied, narrowing his eyes menacingly. “Katara told me the same thing, but it’s still gross! I don’t care what you were doing.”

“I understand,” the airbender said hesitantly, bracing himself for Sokka’s reaction. “I don’t think any of us are particularly happy about what happened this morning. Maybe we can come up with some… boundaries.”

“Boundaries like not sleeping with my sister?” he quipped in response, raising an eyebrow. 

“Well,” Aang said, cringing at his friend’s words, “I was thinking more like knocking first.” 

“Ugh,” Sokka grumbled, a look of disgust on his face, then, glancing out the window at the sun, which had climbed well into the sky by then, said, “Let’s go; we can… talk about this on the way, I guess.”

That was progress, Aang thought, and he grabbed his staff and allowed Sokka to step past him and lead them out their front door, Momo taking off from his shoulder to glide alongside them. They walked in silence at first, quietly passing through the familiar streets that surrounded their home. As much as his instincts told him to apologize again, he knew that it wouldn’t help, nor would it be deserved. He loved Katara more than he hated conflict, and though he really wanted to avoid any animosity forming with her brother, whom he considered his own family as well, he could not and would not offer to change anything about their relationship for him. 

“I just don’t want to see it,” Sokka said finally, breaking the tension between them. “I didn’t know—I really  _ don’t want _ to know—but fine. I’ll knock.”

“Thank you,” Aang replied earnestly. “I really appreciate that.”

Again, a strained silence fell between the two, and Sokka continued to avoid looking at the airbender as they walked. After another moment of contemplation, he added, “It just feels…  _ awkward _ when you guys act all… ugh.”

“I’m sure it was weird for Katara when you and Suki got together,” Aang pointed out gently, “But she’s been nothing but supportive of you.”

“Yeah, but Suki is the sweetest and best person in the world,” Sokka responded. He glanced briefly at Aang when he didn’t receive an answer, noting his friend’s raised eyebrow with a sigh. “I know, you’re the Avatar and you saved the world. It’s just…  _ she’s my sister _ .”

“Sokka,” he tried again, attempting a different approach, “It doesn’t have anything to do with that. The way that you feel about Suki, that’s how I feel about Katara… and I think she feels the same way.” His cheeks turned pink as he thought about her; most of the times she’d told him she loved him, at least in that way, had been in bed, and his memory of her saying those words was inextricably tied to the ghosting of her lips against his ear, her arms around his neck. 

“Oh, gross,” Sokka huffed, taking in Aang’s reddening cheeks and the dazed look in his crystal blue eyes. “Okay, I get it. To be honest, we were all getting sick of the way you two danced around each other. It was kind of cute up until you both started getting miserable about it. It’s just…  _ weird _ to actually see you together.” He paused, then added sheepishly, “I think Suki’s been pissed at me the last couple days for how I responded.”

Aang laughed, massively reassured by his friend’s casual comment. “You think so?” he teased, then added, “I’m sure it will be fine. I think Suki might actually be happy for us.”

“ _ Gross _ . Ugh, and I’ve been wondering why Momo’s slept in my room the last couple nights,” Sokka grumbled as they approached Republic City’s massive City Hall. As they climbed the steps to the front entrance with ease, he reached forward to pull open a door and held it for Aang.

“Thank you,” he said with a smile, bowing respectfully in gratitude before stepping inside. Momo whizzed behind him with a quiet chitter before landing on Sokka’s shoulder to hitch a ride the rest of the way. Aang politely ignored his friend’s comment but looked apologetically at the allegedly offended lemur, who was at that moment taking the opportunity to groom himself.

When Sokka turned to follow Aang inside, he stopped in his tracks, narrowing his eyes at the airbender once more. “You smell like flowers,” he accused, “Why do you smell like my sister?”

“I might have used her soap this morning,” Aang explained, smiling innocently even as he felt his cheeks heat up.

“Ugh,  _ gross _ ,” Sokka groaned a third time, beginning to walk again as the airbender fell into step at his side. “This is really going to take some getting used to.”

Laughing again, Aang followed Sokka towards the meeting chamber. Though he was sure that they would get chewed out for being late and making everyone wait, he couldn’t help but feel profoundly relieved at how their morning had turned out.

* * *

By the time the council decided to break for the evening, Aang was elated with how the day had gone and couldn’t wait to tell Katara everything that had happened. Sokka set off to find Suki, so Aang took off on his glider, eager to get home as fast as possible. 

It wasn’t until he landed in their front yard that it began to occur to him that she might not be home from the clinic yet. She’d been spending gradually less time there and for over a month at that point had almost always cut her days shorter than his own. He was relieved but not surprised to find her curled up on the sofa in the sitting room, a pile of scrolls on the table in front of her. She held one in front of her, her eyebrows furrowed as she read, but when she noticed him come into the room, her face lit up.

“Hi, Sweetie,” he greeted her, immediately grinning at the sight of her as he leaned his staff up in the entryway. 

“Hi,” she answered, holding a hand out for him as he walked over to her. Once he was close enough, she grabbed the fabric of his robes to tug him down for a kiss, and he complied easily, leaning down to meet her lips.

“What are you reading?” he asked when he pulled away, resting a hand on his knee as he slid past on his way to sit beside her. Before she could answer, she squealed as he scooped her up in his arms, pulling her into his lap.

“You’re so warm,” she murmured. As she sat on his thighs, she wrapped her arms around his neck, first for support and then out of affection, leaning closer for a hug. He held her around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder affectionately. “They’re Sokka’s,” she explained finally. “He left them on the table this morning. I was just straightening up and then I started looking through them.”

When he didn’t answer, she flushed, reclining back to look at him again. He was smiling at her, his eyes searching her face silently as his hand at her back slid under her shirt, delicately massaging her soft skin there. “That’s okay, right?” she asked, her cheeks turning redder as she watched his persistent quiet grin. “They’re papers from the council. It looks like they’re just drafts of legislation.”

“Of course it’s okay,” he reassured her. At her continued unease, he removed his hand from her shirt, instead cupping her face softly to catch her eyes. “I didn’t realize you were interested.”

“Well, yeah,” she admitted as his thumb smoothed its way over her rosy cheek. “It’s really important. I think it’s interesting the way the language is written in a lot of them.”

“Oh yeah?” he teased, amused by her response. “I can’t say I’ve ever found that to be true.”

She glared jokingly at him, then froze, her mock annoyance fading as she glanced at the door and then back at Aang. “Where’s Sokka?” she asked, her eyebrows pushed together in concern. “Did something happen?”

“Yes, actually,” Aang responded, his grin growing wider. “We talked this morning after you left; everything’s fine.” When Katara looked at him in disbelief, he explained her brother’s absence by adding, “He went to go find Suki.”

“You talked?” she repeated curiously.

“I am the Avatar, you know,” he purred in a low voice, tilting his head forward until her flush came back to her cheeks, “I’m very good at solving problems.”

“Tell me what happened,” she insisted. The upturned corners of her lips betrayed her mirth.

“I asked him to knock next time,” Aang said simply, tucking her hair behind her ear to get a better look at her face. Then, when his answer failed to satisfy her, he continued, “He was… reluctant, but I think he understands. It’s just going to take him some getting used to.”

“So…” she began, bringing her left hand around to his chest, where she ran her fingers over his exposed muscles. He smirked when her eyes dropped down to his lips. “Does that mean that I get you again tonight?”

He laughed, pulling her close with his arms around her waist. “ _ Every _ night, Sweetie,” he breathed into her ear. “That was never up to Sokka.”

“Good,” she sighed. “That was  _ really _ nice this morning.”

“Which part?” he asked in a low voice. In her silence, he began to kiss her neck and she tilted her head back for him, his lips trailing up the column of her throat.

“All of it,” she groaned, tightening her arms around his neck as he nibbled at the corner of her jawline. Her chest heaved against his with each of her rasping breaths; feeling the effect he had on her sent a fresh wave of heat through his body, and his mouth stilled against her skin.

“I have other news,” he murmured, his lips just beneath her ear. 

When she spoke, her voice was clear despite the way she shivered against him. “Tell me,” she said softly.

“Some messages arrived from the Fire Nation today,” he replied. “Guess what happened?”

“No,” she gasped, sitting back suddenly, looking at him with wide eyes. “Mai had the baby?”

He quirked an eyebrow, taken aback by her reaction. “She did,” he confirmed. “I didn’t realize you’d been waiting to hear—I would have led with that.”

Katara flushed, mildly embarrassed that she’d shown her hand. The conversation she’d had with Mai nearly a month ago still felt raw in her mind and far too private to share with anyone; she couldn’t imagine that Mai had discussed it with Zuko, either. Instead, she said coolly, “Well, she was  _ very _ pregnant last time we saw her.” Then, as Aang continued to stare at her, calculating, she added, “So… the baby?”

“Oh! It’s a girl,” he said, breaking out into a wide grin. “They named her Izumi.”

“Izumi!” she exclaimed. “That’s so cute. When can we go see her?”

“Well,” he began, looking apologetic, “They want a little time to themselves. I think Mai might be having a hard time after the birth. She’s okay,” he said quickly as Katara’s eyes widened in concern, “But I think she just… needs some time to adjust. Zuko said he’d write soon to let us know when we can come meet her.”

“Okay,” she said carefully, still concerned about their friend. Although she wasn’t that close with Mai and the time they’d spent together that night had been somewhat awkward, she understood completely the other woman’s fear of motherhood and was not sure how she herself would feel if she had a newborn to take care of right then. It was daunting in a million different ways even for Katara, who knew the physical requirements of childcare like the back of her hand. She and Mai both knew that the young Fire Lady was committing to much more than breastfeeding and changing diapers. 

“Are you okay?” Aang asked her, snapping her out of her thoughts. His icy blue eyes sparkled with concern, and she smiled easily at him.

“Of course,” she said. “I’m just thinking about the baby. I bet she’s adorable.”

“I bet,” he agreed, grinning widely, reassured by her words. “Zuko promised we’d be the first ones to come visit, so I’m sure we’ll get to meet her soon. I’m excited, too.” He paused, bringing one hand up to run his fingers through her hair, watching as she leaned into his touch. After a moment, he continued, “There’s more, too.”

“Oh?” she asked as she tilted her head in confusion, “What else?”

“The council finally agreed to let us proceed with our plans for the new air temple,” he revealed, his face alight with joy. “We can start preparing the island whenever we’re ready.”

“Aang!” she squealed, diving forward against him to squeeze him in a tight hug. “That’s amazing! I’m so glad they finally came around.”

“I think Zuko may have said something to them,” he admitted. “The timing’s a little suspicious since—a bunch of messages came in from him this morning—and they didn’t necessarily look happy about it.”

“Who cares how they feel about it?” she asked immediately, caught off guard by his reaction. When he gave her an odd look, she continued, “If Zuko has to throw his weight around to make amends for what his grandfather did, then… well, that’s why he took the throne, isn’t it?”

“I guess that’s one way of seeing it,” he conceded carefully, “But I’m more afraid of the other Nations resenting me or thinking that I’m getting some kind of special treatment. I don’t want it to undermine their trust in me; we have enough conflict to deal with here already.”

She sighed, tracing small hearts on his back with her fingers. He hummed in contentment despite the somewhat sour tone their conversation had taken on. Pressing a soft kiss to his neck, she murmured, “Don’t worry about that. You’re right, we have enough problems without worrying about ones that haven’t even come up yet.” 

He laughed quietly, more out of an attempt to make them both feel better than any real amusement, but said nothing. In his silence, she pulled back to look at him and added, “So what’s the plan?”

“The plan was to come home and tell you,” he joked, in love with the way her expression softened in return. “Now… we have a lot of work to do. I was thinking maybe we could go take a look tonight—since it’s still early, I mean.”

“Okay,” she agreed quickly, matching his smile. “I think it’ll be really good to go see it now that we’re allowed to start. I want you to show me how you want it all to come together.”

He looked at her, grinning affectionately, and she thought she saw something shift in his expression. Though she had committed herself to him, if only platonically, in both mind and heart six years ago on the day that they met, she had noticed the way that her devotion had caught him off guard over the past few days, as if it meant something different in the context of their new relationship. She supposed it did, somewhat, when they were working on constructing the island they might call their home together one day, but she had always known that she would help him with this project. He was her family, and she would do anything for him—that part was nothing new.

As his hand moved to gently touch her cheek, his thumb stroked her skin there adoringly, his touch so soft she could hardly feel it. His gray eyes, locked on her own, were dark and mystifying, and as she searched their depths, she swore she could feel all of his past lives staring back at her, enraptured. The intensity of his gaze knocked her breath away. She could never bring her mother back, and she could never bring Monk Gyatso nor the air nomads back. This, however, she could do, and she found that, as always, she was eager to be that person for him, to be able to help him to revitalize his culture and ensure that he always felt loved.

“Thank you,” he whispered, his eyes sparkling as she pressed a quick, gentle kiss to the tip of his nose.

“I love you,” she reminded him, reveling in the soft pink flush that spread over his cheek bones. “I’m honored to be able to do this with you.” 

Instead of responding, he leaned in for a crushing kiss. Cupping her face with both hands, he held her close through her surprise, humming softly against her as she quickly relaxed into him. Then, her tongue swept over his lower lip, as soft and tender as her embrace. His fingers threaded into the hair at the back of her neck as she tilted her head, and she moaned quietly at the safe feeling of his strong hands around her as he caressed her jawline. They kissed for a moment before his grip on her loosened, and he began to pull away, catching her bottom lip between his teeth in the process. She felt heat spread through her body at the sensation, her heart pounding when he released it, planting another small peck on her lips. The way he grinned against her told her that he had noticed her reaction.

“I love you too,” he said softly and then reached for her hand, which had drifted to his chest and begun to lazily make its way south. She watched an amused smirk spread over his lips as his eyes searched her own. 

“That’s how I know exactly what you’re thinking right now,” he continued, “But I really think we should go.”

She made a strange sound somewhere between a giggle and a whine of protest. Grinning at her, he stood and scooped her up in his arms in one smooth movement.

“Aang!” she laughed, wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders for support as he began heading for the front door. “Put me down!”

“No,” he insisted, “You can’t be trusted—and I can’t say no to you.”

“But you are right now,” she pointed out against his neck, pressing a kiss there in an effort to sway him. 

“I’m not telling you  _ no _ ,” Aang told her, sighing softly as her teeth sunk into skin. “I’m telling you  _ later _ .” When she began sucking lightly at the side of his neck, he laughed at her and added, “If you’re good. Now hang on tight, I need one hand to open the door.”

She grinned against the side of his neck and stopped struggling, only slightly embarrassed that, distracted by his pulse beneath her lips, she hadn’t noticed he was waiting for her. “Sorry,” she teased, squeezing her arms around him, “I didn’t realize  _ later _ was on the line. I’ll be good.”

As he carried her the rest of the way outside to Appa, she kept her mouth off of him as promised.

Once on the bison’s bare back, she joined him atop Appa’s head and cuddled up against his side. He grinned down at her in a way that made her stomach flip flop and curled an arm around her shoulders. They’d sat like this before so many times in all of their years of friendship, but as she looked down at their thighs, touching from knee to hip, she thought about the way his tattoos wrapped around his defined muscle there, the way she had learned, in recent days, that they met just above his tailbone. The difference now was striking to her; he still felt like her best friend, just pure comfort, but that was inextricably entwined with a feeling of passion and heat that one could only get from a lover. Though she had been attracted to him for years, such simple embraces had never made her core ache so desperately with need before. 

However, she  _ had _ told him she would be good and keep her mind and mouth off of his body, so instead they spent the short flight talking quietly about his ideas for the island’s eventual layout, and she tried to keep her eyes off of his defined jawline and the dimples that formed on his cheeks when he smiled at her. 

When they landed, he spent a while showing her around as she hadn’t been in a while, usually too busy at work during his admittedly sparse recent visits. Now that they had proper permission to actually begin working on his vision, she was so excited for him. She turned to him towards the end of the tour to tell him how much more beautiful it all was than she remembered and was surprised to find him staring off into the distance with his eyebrows furrowed, deep in thought.

Before she could ask about it, he snapped out of it and turned to her with a grin, listing a few ideas he had for the first steps they could take. The island was covered in overgrown plants, grass that brushed their calves as they walked and massive gnarled old trees whose branches reached out in all directions. It made traversing the island difficult, with Aang taking the time to create a wind tunnel to blow the branches out of their way; it was also hard for her to get a sense of how any of it would look together as they moved along through the thicket. Eventually they came to another part of the shore, and Katara nearly sighed in relief as they emerged from the trees to the sight of the sparkling bay. He seemed to sense her discomfort and gave her a small half smile, offering to split up so that he could begin clearing the main area he’d designated for the temple’s main building while she worked on cleaning up the shore. 

They worked separately for a while. She could hear the sound of the ground moving and sometimes felt the vibrations of shifting rock. After some time, the motion of slicing through overgrown branches with her waterbending became repetitive and her mind drifted to the work Aang was doing. All bending was hard work, but earthbending always seemed to take the most out of him; it made his muscles throb and redden in a way they didn’t when he bent the other elements. Something about the way he concentrated when he moved the earth, the way his eyebrows furrowed and sweat dripped down his shoulders… she shook her head as if to physically clear the image from her mind as heat began to pool in her center. Surveying the horizon, she decided it had been long enough and set off through the trees.

It didn’t take long for her to find Aang; not far from the ground he had worked to level, he stood at the island’s far shore, facing the ocean as it lapped at the land. She stopped short when she saw him, made speechless as always by the captivating sight of his glistening biceps, his broad shoulders shining with sweat, just as she’d predicted. He didn’t react as she approached, though she was sure he had sensed her presence. Her heart was pounding in her chest as her sudden need for him filled her body with heat, and she knew how unmistakable it would feel to him, his bare feet on the earth as they were. Walking up behind him, she wrapped her arms around him, her hands sliding over his stomach as she rested her cheek on his back. She felt him sigh as his muscles relaxed within her arms. 

“Hi, you,” she murmured, kissing his shoulder blade. His skin was damp beneath her lips from all of the bending he had done, and she felt dizzy with desire at the salty taste. 

“Hi,” he replied softly, reaching a hand up to rest over her own.

“You’re all sweaty,” she whispered suggestively, intertwining their fingers. As she watched, a bead of sweat pooled along his shoulder and began to run down his back. Daringly, she leaned in and lapped it up, thrilled by the way he groaned aloud as she did. “Maybe we should go in the water really quick to rinse off.”

**“** Katara,” he laughed, turning around in her arms then to look at her, “What are you trying to do?”

“Nothing,” she replied innocently, gazing up into his sparkling silver eyes with as straight of a face as she could manage. He arched an eyebrow at her, and her face flushed as she felt heat begin to spread between her legs.

“Are you sure?” he asked in a low voice, tilting his head down until his forehead was nearly touching her own. He grinned at the hazy look in her eyes, tracing his hands down over her lower back to cup her round cheeks through her skirt. 

“No,” she admitted freely, leaning forward to press a kiss just below his ear. He sighed as she trailed her lips along his jaw. As his hands each gave her a gentle squeeze, she paused to smile against his neck. “What are  _ you _ trying to do?” she asked.

He laughed again at her question, pulling away to begin shedding his clothes. Her heart almost stopped in her chest at the sight of him beginning to remove his pants, looking at her expectantly. “I thought you said you wanted to go in the water,” he prodded, grinning proudly when her face turned red. 

Together, they undressed, leaving their clothes in a neat pile on the clean earth he’d prepared that evening where his tunic and belt already rested. Katara glanced up at him with red cheeks when he stopped with his underwear still on, in the process of removing her upper wraps herself. She looked at him questioningly, watching the way his eyes darkened as he surveyed her half naked form before him. 

“I’m not going to stop you,” he said, answering her silent question with a grin, stepping forward until he towered over her. Gently, he took the end of her chest wrapping from her hands and began to unwind it, passing it behind her back each time he went around, slowly revealing her. Once she was finally bare before him, he exhaled heavily, instinctively reaching to take one of her breasts in his hand. Her skin looked so perfectly gorgeous in the late afternoon sun, almost sparkling as he bent his head forward to kiss her collarbone. “You’re so stunning,” he purred, dropping the material in his other hand to the ground to pull her closer with an arm around her waist. 

“Aang,” she sighed, sliding a hand behind his head encouragingly until he was lining the crook of her neck with kisses. Her skin grew hot under his lips as she became flustered by his attention, her knees giving out until his arm around her back was supporting a good amount of her weight. When he bit down lightly at the tendon on her neck there, she whimpered unintelligibly into his ear and he grinned, proud of the way she turned to mush under his attention. 

“What are we going to do in the water, Sweetie?” he asked, his voice gruff with arousal. She opened her mouth to answer and instead gasped when he gave her nipple a gentle pinch.

“In… the water?” she asked slowly as she recovered, arching her back to press her breast further into his hand.

He laughed, deep and quiet in her ear, a sound that sent heat straight to her core. “You wanted to go in the water, remember? That’s why we took our clothes off?”

“I did,” she groaned as he continued nibbling at her neck. “Now I just want you.”

He paused, then pulled back enough to look into her eyes, flushing when he saw her desire reflected there. “I thought you said I was sweaty,” he teased.

“You are,” she insisted, sliding one hand over his chest. His skin was still tacky beneath her fingertips, and as she tickled her way down his ribs and stomach, he sucked a deep breath in to brace himself for her touch. Finally, she curled her hand around his arousal through his underwear, relishing the loud moan he gave her in response. “I  _ didn’t _ mean it in a bad way; it’s really sexy, Aang.”

“Katara,” he sighed. His free hand moved down her back to cup her rear, and his fingers gripped the soft fabric of her wraps, pulling her as close as he could while leaving room for their arms between them. She stroked him with a featherlight touch, massaging the outline of his hard length as it strained against the thin layer of material that separated them. As she moved, she listened for the hitch of his breathing and his soft gasps of her name; with one particularly firm tug, his own hand stilled on her breast in his distraction, a strangled moan leaving his lips, tickling her neck. “What do you want?” he asked, his voice hoarse and deep in her ear. 

“You,” she murmured, reluctantly pulling back from his embrace to see his face.

“Here?” he asked, surprised. Under her palm, his heart raced.

Flushing, she looked up into his smoky blue eyes. “Well… we’re alone,” she pointed out, gazing up at him from under her eyelashes, “And I really want to.”

He sucked in a harsh breath, his chest swelling beneath her hand as he inhaled. As she waited for his answer, she leaned forward to press her lips to his collarbone and then his chest, peppering his muscles with soft kisses. He groaned when she craned her neck down to reach one of his nipples and dipped her tongue out to swipe at it daringly. “Katara,” he sighed, nuzzling against the top of her head, “Me too.”

She hummed against him, her lips tickling his sensitive skin in a delicious sort of way. “Come here,” she said, and then she pulled away suddenly, dragging him towards the thick trees that lined most of the rest of the island. 

He grew confused as they walked, nearing the edge of the clearing then. As they approached the trees, her hand in his own still pulling him incessantly along, he began to ask, “Where are we—“

However, he was cut off by the way she shoved him up against the rough bark of one particularly large tree, his mind going blank as she dropped to her knees in the dirt before him. “Oh,” he moaned as she hooked her fingers into his underwear, giving them a firm tug to drag them down his legs until his hard length was exposed before her, twitching at the sudden rush of cool air. Instinctively, she curled her fingers around him, stroking his shaft up and down a few times, watching as he jerked and throbbed in her hand until he was fully aroused, unable to keep his gasps and groans of pleasure inside. 

“Aang,” she sighed, her warm breath hitting his sensitive skin. He exhaled harshly as she leaned in closer, licking her lips before pressing a delicate kiss to the head of his cock. She glanced up at him and caught his searing silver gaze briefly before his eyes fluttered closed, his head leaning back against the trunk of the tree. 

“ _ Katara _ ,” he sighed, threading his fingers into her hair along her scalp to hold her close. When her hand slowed to a stop, he looked back down at her, and she smiled up at him innocently. 

“You’re not going to watch?” she asked quietly, her eyes locked on his own. Sure that she had his attention again, she continued to touch him, dipping forward this time to dart her small pink tongue out from between her lips to explore the slit at the tip of his arousal and run along the mushroomed edge of its head. His skin was salty beneath her tongue everywhere she went, and she felt dizzy with her need for him.

“Oh,” he gasped, his fingers tightening their grip on her hair, “Please…”

With a quick glance up to make sure that he was watching, she moved her lips over the head of his cock, her hand stroking where she couldn’t reach with her mouth. She closed her eyes, taking in the sound of his broken moans as she began to bob her head over him, exploring him with her tongue as she went. When he bucked forward slightly, unable to control himself as he watched her, he brushed against the roof of her mouth. Though it initially felt unpleasant, heat flooded her center when his fingers knotted in her hair in response, a faint curse leaving his lips.

“Sorry,” he murmured, his strained voice hardly reaching her. She glanced up to meet his eyes and was stunned by their charcoal depths, boring into her as his hand clutched her hair to hold her close. With one hand wrapped around his shaft, she pressed her other to his hip to hold him against the tree, enjoying the way he trembled beneath her touch. She drew another moan from him as she lowered her mouth further each time, practicing the way she moved her tongue around him, testing the limits of how far she could take him before she gagged.

“You feel incredible,” he breathed, his dark gaze fixed down on her as she kneeled in the dirt, head moving rhythmically in his lap. “And you look  _ so _ sexy, Sweetie,” he added in a gasp, “Please…” 

Her eyes twinkled as they looked up at him, and he throbbed in her mouth, overloaded with desire. She began to move faster, twisting her hand up and down his length, lubricated by the wetness left behind as she moved her lips over him again and again. Before long, he was tugging at her hair, desperate, unintelligible sounds flooding from his mouth as his hips thrust helplessly against her restraining grasp. 

She tried to memorize his reactions, from the way his impossibly hard cock throbbed in her mouth to the desperate pleas that he made as she brought him ever closer to his climax; if she was able to draw such a strong response from him with so little experience, then she was determined to find out what she could do once she’d learned his body better. She could tell by the tension in his muscles and the shallow jerking of his hips that he was getting close, his fingers pulling just enough at her hair to leave her quivering on the ground beneath him. Closing her eyes to brace herself, she gripped his hip until her fingertips turned white and lowered her lips over him as far as she could, stopping only when he brushed against the roof of her mouth once again. 

“ _ Fuck _ … Katara,” he panted, his chest heaving as her tongue swirled around the head of his cock inside her mouth. Thrilled by his slipping inhibition, she moved her hand faster, complementing the way her lips rose and fell over his length as it throbbed with his oncoming orgasm. “You have to slow down, Sweetie, it feels too good, I’m getting really close.”

Her eyes glimmered as she pulled back, her tongue teasing his head as she released him from her mouth. Then, using the wetness left behind from her attention, she began to stroke him rapidly, sitting up on her knees to get closer to him. “Please, Aang,” she purred, leaning forward to nuzzle against his hip. If he hadn’t been sweaty before, he was then, his skin damp with visible beads rolling down the lines of his muscles. She sighed in pleasure as his muscles began to quiver, and kissed away a drop of sweat before adding, “I want you to come for me.”

His moan then filled the empty clearing, his fingers pulling lightly at her hair as his arousal reached a breaking point. Her name spilled desperately from his mouth, and her hand on his hip eased up its grip to allow him to thrust into her grasp. Then, as her hand sped up its rapid strokes over his shaft, she felt him throb in her fingertips, his abdomen vibrating against her lips with the force of his moan as he came. His release hit her chest and dripped down her fingers as she leaned into him, continuing to kiss his stomach until his grip on her hair loosened up. When she looked up at him, his unfocused eyes immediately connected with her own.

“Katara…” he said in wonder, his hand sliding from her hair to her cheek to caress her tenderly. She watched his cheeks flush red as his eyes roamed down to her breasts, covered with his come. Then, still staring at her chest, he grinned sheepishly. “Sorry,” he said, his voice still deep and raw from his arousal, “I didn’t mean to—“

“I did,” she cut him off, laughing softly at the disbelief on his face as she stood up, bending the mess from her hand into the ground below. “Aren’t we going in the water anyway?” 

He seemed unable to process what she had said, gazing blankly at her. “Aang,” she laughed, “Come on.”

Sighing at the sight of her, he finally stepped away from the tree trunk. She turned around, expecting him to follow her towards the shore, and squealed in surprise when he scooped her up from behind, one hand under her knees and one hand behind her back. Her arms wound naturally around his neck for support as his eyes remained fixed on her breasts, even as he used his airbending to run so quickly that the trees blurred around them. Once they reached the shore, she started to squirm in his arms, trying to get down. Instead, he slowed his pace to wade into the bay, holding her firmly in his arms.

“You’re so gorgeous,” he told her. Only when she giggled did he glance up to meet her eyes. “I mean it,” he said resolutely, smiling at the sound of her laughter, “And of course not just because of that—although that was—is,” he hesitated, his eyes flicking back down to her breasts, where the translucent white ropes of his release were drying in the cool night breeze, “ _ really _ hot.”

“I think so too,” she breathed, looking up at him with wide blue eyes. He leaned in to kiss her as he lowered her into the water, loosening his grip on her as soon as she was submerged from her chest down. When his hand on her hip began to trail down between her legs, she pulled away laughing and swam along the beach, her movements propelled with bending. She didn’t feel him following her until just before his fingers curled around her ankle.

“Gotcha,” he said with a grin as he resurfaced, clear water rippling out around him. She was swiftly reminded of the work they had done to keep the bay clean, of the state the water would be in if they had not intervened; it was only due to their joint efforts that they were able to swim in the bay at all. “You could have warned me we were having a race, you know,” he teased, inching closer to her.

“You always win,” she complained in return, looping her arms around his neck, “I thought I deserved the advantage—to make things fair.”

“Hmm… you think my waterbending sifu deserves a head start against me in a swimming race?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at the way her cheeks flushed. She’d noticed he had started saying that to her more often, as if he had somehow picked up on the way it made her feel all fluttery inside.

“You did catch me,” she pointed out after a deep breath, “So maybe.”

“Okay,” he said, gently easing himself from her grasp, “You’re on.”

She was lost in the ricocheting waves before he had a chance to ask how long he should wait to follow her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long—I know it’s now officially been over two weeks. I’ve been busy with my internship/school and crushing depression, and I’m running out of my stock of prewritten story, so updates might start to be less frequent, like every other Friday or something instead. Just a heads up!


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